Building the House of Knowledge, materialism

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 number2020.9.3

Signed"Hugh Merrill 2012" in graphite pencil at right

InscribedInscriptions immediately below the platemark in graphite pencil read: “sequence 2/state 2” (two lines) followed by “7/8”and “84 n 63” at left, “Building The House OF Knowledge/Materialism/State3” (three lines) at center, and “Hugh Merrill 2012” at right.

Edition/State/ProofEdition 7/8

On View

Not on view

Collections

Contemporary Art

Terms

DescriptionThe focus of this vertically-oriented black and white print is a four-sided, tower-like structure with a pointed, triangular roof. The lower three-fourths of the tower are black and the upper fourth, below the roof, is transparent with black edges. The tower 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 a gray area around the bottom of the tower. There are black lines running through the trapezoid and other black marks scattered across it. Immediately outside the top and upper sides of the trapezoid, there is a band of gray-white with irregular edges that blend with the surrounding dark black areas. There is one rectangular black patch along each of the left and right sides of the trapezoid. The left and right sides of the image, about a quarter of the width on each side, is mostly a deep black with a few lighter areas crossed by black lines in the upper half. There is a rectangular area in the bottom third of the image forming something like a pathway toward the tower. It extends backward in perspective from its edge near the bottom. This pathway has a border decorated with a grid and a slightly darker rectangle within the border. The ground on either side of the pathway and below it is white/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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