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Diptych (self-portrait)

Artist Jim Dine (American, born 1935)
Date1996
MediumPhotogravure
DimensionsImage (left): 19 1/4 × 17 3/4 inches (48.9 × 45.09 cm)
Image (right): 19 1/4 × 17 1/2 inches (48.9 × 44.45 cm)
Sheet: 24 1/4 × 38 7/8 inches (61.6 × 98.74 cm)
Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Object number2005.27.4983.A,B
InscribedSignature, date and edition number (#5/8) on back of print.
Edition/State/Proofed. 5/8
On View
Not on view
Collections
DescriptionDiptych. Left image is a cropped view of a bearded man's face in the upper right next to a human skull in the upper left. Right image is a shadow of a skull with the mouth of the skull in profile in the upper left corner.Gallery Label

Jim Dine pairs his own head with a human skull, working with light and shadow to create a moody meditation on mortality. Dine here references the tradition of the memento mori in Western art: the skull often serves as a warning or reminder of death.

 

Copyright© Jim Dine / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
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