Name/Title
Cain, 1992Entry/Object ID
2021.14Description
Bust of a person in black with horns sticking out the top of their head, wearing a crown. There is a barbed halo just above the crown. Surrounding the head are six smaller drawings.Context
Tony Fitzpatrick’s etching Cain is reminiscent of the artist’s iconic style of using cartoon and tattoo-like design, infused with religious or political imagery or subject matter. In the biblical Old Testament version of the story, Cain is said to have been the eldest son of Adam and Eve, a farmer who offered his crops to God but was rejected in favor of his brother Abel. Cain then proceeded, according to Genesis, to be the first murderer in existence; killing is brother Abel out of jealousy, though the detail and motivations are varied. Other translations of the story liken Cain to the devil himself or an arch- angel, which fits the imagery depicted in Fitzpatrick’s rendering of the biblical character, with its pointed horns and barbed halo and small crown over the figure’s dark head. The symbolic imagery around the figure, in its cartoon-like, enigmatic personifications harkens the symbols and icons to depict versions of the biblical tale without definitive answers, reading more like a tarot card than religious iconography reminiscent of the Renaissance and other periods known for their depictions of these types of stories.
A truly iconic Chicago artist, Tony Fitzpatrick’s prints, collages, paintings, and drawings have long been a staple of the Chicago art scene, influenced by the city’s street culture, children’s books, tattoo designs, Catholic icons, superheroes, industrialization, and contemporary politics from the region and beyond. Formerly a tattoo artist and semi-professional boxer, himself, Tony Fitzpatrick became a self-taught artist and renegade of Chicago’s art scene in the 1980s.Acquisition
Accession
2021.14Source or Donor
Kevin LeonardAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Laura and Kevin LeonardLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Tertiary Object Term
EtchingNomenclature Secondary Object Term
Print, IntaglioNomenclature Primary Object Term
PrintNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsLOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Bible stories, Tattoos