Building the House of Knowledge, logos

Artist Hugh J. Merrill (American, born 1949)

Printer Guanlan Original Printmaking Base

Date2012

MediumEtching in ink on Stonehenge paper

DimensionsSheet: 35 1/4 × 26 1/2 inches (89.54 × 67.31 cm)
Image: 27 1/2 × 19 1/4 inches (69.85 × 48.9 cm)

Credit LineGift of Rebecca and Emmett Merrill

Object number2020.9.2

Signed"Hugh Merrill 2012" in graphite pencil at right

InscribedImmediately below the platemark in graphite pencil read: "sequence 2/state2" (two lines) follwed by "6/8" at left, "Building The House OF Knowledge/Logos (two lines) at center, and "Hugh Merrill 2012" at right.

Edition/State/ProofEdition 6/8

On View

Not on view

Collections

Contemporary Art

Terms

DescriptionThe focus of this vertically-oriented black and white print is a tower-like structure that is four-sided and largely transparent with a pointed, triangular roof. Black outlines form the structure’s edges and three floors above the ground are visible within it. The space between the first (not ground) and second floors and between the second and third floors is filled with black hatching, including clusters of thicker lines. It stands along the vertical midline of the image, its bottom sits just below center, and its roof peak is within the topmost quarter of the image. A black-outlined trapezoid frames the tower. The area within this shape is mostly white with black lines running through it and other black marks scattered across it. Immediately outside the trapezoid, there is a band of slightly darker gray with irregular edges. Beyond that area, space along the left and right sides of the images and across the top is mostly a deep black with a few lighter areas crossed by black lines. A rectangular area forming something like a pathway toward the tower extends backward in perspective from its edge near the bottom of the image. There is an irregularly shaped lighter area in front of the the pathway. This pathway has a border decorated with a grid and a slightly darker area within the border. The ground on either side of the pathway is light gray with back lines scattered across it.Provenance

Provenance

The artist, Kansas City, MO, 2012-September 30, 2020 [1];

His gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2020.

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