Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
Professor emeritus Robert Reed (1922-2007) taught printmaking and drawing at Purdue from 1958 until 1987. Reed’s life works include drawing, painting, sculpture, pottery, and printmaking. He also created silver jewelry, masks, mobiles, and birdhouses.Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"Robert Reed went to Indiana University and graduated in 1952. He then became a freelance artist for two years, followed by another two years as an elementary art teacher in the West Lafayette school system. For the next 29 years, from 1958-1987, Reed taught at Purdue University, giving courses in printmaking and drawing. His most active period as a printmaker was the 1960s and the 1970s, but his experience in this field extends up to the present.
The Wabash River series contains eight prints: the first two images were done as woodcuts; three and four are lithographs; five through seven are etchings; and the last one also is a lithograph. The awards for this print include a prize in the 1978 Wabash Valley Exhibit, held in Terre Haute, and in1979 in the Westbrook, Kentucky Regional Show. The print’s viewpoint is located behind the Williamsburg Complex, in which the artist used an earth mound as a reference point. The print represents a tree-filled river bank with two areas of calm, serene water, and in the background appears a hazy sky with the silhouette of Lafayette. The buildings include the county courthouse with a cupola on top, surrounded by a few additional buildings that are boxy in shape, and on the right are a few other, house-like structures. The details are somewhat hazy. The focus of the image is the natural land in front, with its trees and their roots, where the ink is most concentrated and the lines of light and dark are contrasted most effectively. The roots almost seem like snakes trying to break free from their bonds to the trees. The quality of line also plays a key role, because the lines are solid and thicker here, in contrast to the thinner ones used for the rippling water. The artist’s style is realistic, but with an attractive element of abstraction in the sharply defined, variously textured lines in the foreground of the scene.
Mike Bannwart
Robert Browning Reed Wabash River VI Etching, aquatint 23 3/4 x 18 in. 1977 Acc. No. 2005.04.06 "