Frightful Dream

Print

-

Purdue University Galleries

Name/Title

Frightful Dream

Entry/Object ID

1974.02

Description

It appears as a group of people in an abstract trance. There are monsters trying to get to the people in the piece. The figures have this gestural nature to them that pairs with the etching. The left print seems incredibly realistic in juxtaposition to the abstract imperfect figures. The etching creates this thin line that surrounds the figures and the beasts. The gesture in their harsh nature creates this horror-like face. It is made up of blues, red, purples, pinks, blacks and white. Value is implied with rapid lines. Similar to the value and line, the shadows and lights are built from intense etching and the layering of the transparent print colors. They build up together to create darker hues and others are left out to leave that space for positive space. The composition is paired with part etching and part photorealistic printing to the very left of the piece. The cluttered figures and bed mash together to create these heavier proportions. The balance on this piece is very symmetrical. It leans more in the right rather than the left, but that does not take away from the piece at all. The negative space on the left creates this depth to the piece that the red background could be a bedroom with a window. The largest emphasis is on the figures to the right. The monsters and the demons take up basically the whole piece.

Type of Print

Etching

Artwork Details

Medium

Paper, ink

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Warrington Colescott

Role

Print Maker

Manufacturer

Mantegna I Press

Date made

1971

Time Period

20th Century

Place

* Untyped Place

Wisconsin

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Tertiary Object Term

Etching

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Print, Intaglio

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Print

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Graphic Documents

Nomenclature Class

Documentary Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

12 in

Width

16-1/4 in

Color

Blue, Red, Purple, Pink, Black, White

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

"Born in New Orleans, Warrington Colescott was educated at the University of California, Berkeley and the Academie de la Grande Chaumierre in Paris. He is the Leo Steppat Chair Professor of Art Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I have a long career as an artist, concentrating on painting and printmaking, with recent work focus- ing on painting in water-soluble media on paper and printmaking in the intaglio media. Narrative ideas have always dominated my expression. I like color and design, but I hate triviality, and the demands I put on myself specify complexity: If you seduce, do it with wit and creativity: If you attack, do it with skill: If you educate, do your research. As a satirist I try to have a lot of eye, good hands and plenty of attitude.” "