Gordon Gilkey
Tempus Fidgets
1952

About the Item

Tempus Fidgets Etching, 1952 Signed in pencil lower right (see photo) Titled in pencil lower left (see photo) During his military service, Gilkey was part of the "Monuments Men" art recovery team The title is a play on Tempus fugit is a Latin phrase, usually translated into English as "time flies". The expression comes from line 284 of book 3 of Vergil's Georgics, where is appears as FVGIT INREPARABILE TEMPVS: "it escapes, irretrievable time". Condition: Excellent Image/Plate size: 11 3/4 x 14 5/8 inches Sheet size: 15 3/4 x 20 9/16 Reference: Portland Art Museum, 82.80.642 Gordon Waverly Gilkey was a printmaker, teacher, collector, and curator. He graduated from Albany College, which is now Lewis & Clark College, in 1933 and obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oregon in 1936. He served in World War II in a special division dedicated to locating and returning art confiscated by the Nazis and to confiscating Nazi propaganda. Gilkey spent the majority of his career teaching printmaking at Oregon State University. He amassed a large collection of prints, primarily by trading work with his colleagues. When he retired in 1978, Gilkey became curator of prints and drawings at the Portland Art Museum and professor and printmaker in residence at the Museum Art School, which is now known as the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Over the course of many years, he donated more than 10,000 prints and drawings from his personal collection to the Museum. Gilkey was crucial in building awareness for and appreciation of works on paper, and was instrumental in creating proper storage and viewing spaces for the graphic arts. In 1993, the Vivian and Gordon Gilkey Center for Graphic Arts was inaugurated at the Museum. As an artist, Gilkey is best known for his etchings. He worked in both representational as well as abstract styles throughout his career, and was an early practitioner of computer-assisted art. Courtesy Portland Art Museum

Creator:

Gordon Gilkey (1912 - 2000, American)

Creation Year:

1952

Dimensions:

Height: 11.75 in (29.85 cm)Width: 14.63 in (37.17 cm)

Medium:

Etching

Movement & Style:

Abstract

Period:

1950-1959