Artwork Details
Portfolio Title
Publisher
Artist
Creation Date
Materials
Object Types
Dimensions
9-15/16 x 16-3/4 in. (plate) 13-7/8 x 17 in. (sheet)
Mark Description
inscribed in pencil, below image, L.C.: Ecclesiastes VI.12 | inscribed in pencil, below image, L.R.: "4/75" | signed in pencil, below image, L.L.: Majors
Accession Number
Credit Line
Gift of the Art School Committee, Herron School of Art
Copyright
Collection
Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
Color Palette
Gallery Labels
“For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?”
These prints present a chorus of rich textures, minutely articulated and printed to create abstract shapes. They are part of a series of 18 etchings that illustrate passages from the book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible. The author of Ecclesiastes, traditionally believed to be King Solomon, wrote about the eternal quality of the universe, the unfathomable nature of the world’s order, and the transitory nature of existence. Majors wanted to explore these big ideas while also getting away from traditional religious imagery during the 1960s, a time of political and social change. He turned to abstraction and the use of both linear and biomorphic shapes to articulate the sense of scale and mystery evoked by Ecclesiastes.
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