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Benton Murdoch Spruance'Havoc in Heaven' — Mid-Century Modernism1948
1948
About the Item
Benton Spruance, 'Havoc in Heaven', lithograph, 1948, edition 30-35, Fine and Looney 270. Signed, titled, and numbered 'Ed 35' in pencil. Initialed in the stone, lower right. Printed by Cuno.
A fine, richly-inked impression, with full margins (1 1/4 to 2 7/8 inches), on heavy cream, wove paper, in excellent condition. Image size 18 11/16 x 13 inches; sheet size 22 7/8x 15 3/4 inches, Matted to museum standards, unframed.
Impressions of this work are in the permanent collections of the Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Consortium, Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Spencer Museum of Art.
ABOUT THIS WORK
Spruance's dramatic composition is a poignant commentary on the unseen implications of the invention and use of the atomic bomb during World War II.
A mystical tradition since the middle ages holds that the 'angels of government' implement God’s will by ordering creation through the laws of nature, interacting in the physical world on a broad scale. In the artist's image, the use of these dangerous weapons of mass destruction overwhelms the angelic forces whose responsibility is to maintain the balance of nature.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Benton Spruance is widely recognized as one of America’s most important twentieth-century printmakers. Born in Philadelphia, he first took architectural classes at the University of Pennsylvania. Spruance then earned a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied with Daniel Garber. While at the Academy, he was awarded a Cresson Scholarship in 1928 to study in Paris, where he was introduced to lithography at the studio of master printers Edmond and Jacques Desjobert.
Lithography became Spruance's lifelong passion; he created over 400 lithographs during his long and prolific career. The subjects of these works ranged from social commentary to modernist explorations depicting mid-twentieth America to biblical/symbolist representations.
Spruance taught at Beaver College and served as chairman of the Fine Arts Department for over three decades. He then became director of graphic arts at the Philadelphia College of Art. He was awarded two Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships in 1950 and 1964, and he was appointed a member of the Library of Congress Pennell Fund Purchase Committee 1955-62.
Spruance exhibited his work nationally and internationally. His graphic work is held in numerous museum collections, including the Amon Carter Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Five Colleges and Historic Deerfield Consortium, Free Library of Philadelphia, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Reading Public Museum, Spencer Museum of Art, Library of Congress, Woodmere Art Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
- Creator:Benton Murdoch Spruance (1904 - 1967, American)
- Creation Year:1948
- Dimensions:Height: 18.69 in (47.48 cm)Width: 13 in (33.02 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Myrtle Beach, SC
- Reference Number:
Benton Murdoch Spruance
A pioneer in color lithography, Benton Spruance spent most of his life in Philadelphia, where he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and became one of the city’s leading artists. In the twenties and thirties Spruance was known for prints that one critic described as his “velvety urban scenes and ‘social conscious’ series,” which chronicled the life of ordinary men and women at work and play. However, Spruance was also a painter and draftsman who during this period took advantage of two Guggenheim fellowships to travel throughout the United States and Europe and sketch landscapes. In the forties Spruance began producing moody, psychologically charged lithographic portraits of women, followed by mystically tinged work, based on biblical passages, that became increasingly subtle and sculptural in effect. Despite the demand for his work (he produced more than 500 lithographs during his career), Spruance continued to teach. At the time of his death, he was chairman of the art department at Beaver College and had recently retired from the chairmanship of the printmaking department at Philadelphia College of Art.
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