Accession Number
1991/1.94

Title
Survivor

Artist(s)
Richard Bosman

Object Creation Date
1982-1983

Medium & Support
woodcut on Kozo Color 14 paper

Dimensions
39 5/16 x 24 15/16 in. (99.7 x 63.2 cm);42 5/16 x 30 5/16 in. (107.32 x 76.84 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase made possible by the Friends of the Museum of Art

Label copy
The sharp lines and rough, jagged shapes seen in this woodcut by Richard Bosman suggest a violent technique, which is part of the excitement of his images. Harking back to the handling of this medium by the German Expressionists, the artist leaves traces of his struggle against the resistant wood block. In many of Bosman's prints the physicality of the making of the work serves as an analogy to the anxiety-provoking circumstances depicted. In "Survivor", a man appears to have jumped from a height. A narrative is barely suggested, though in the near absence of clues, the viewer is left with no clear context with which to understand the image. Further, there is little indication of the artist's own feelings, aside from the expressive cutting of the block. Indeed, as Bosman revealed recently in a lecture at the Museum of Art, the title "Survivor" refers not to the image of the man himself, but to the print, which exists, or survives, in only a small edition because the pine block was so soft that it broke after ten impressions. Thus the printmaker's title adds an element or irony to an already ambiguous image.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Figures
full-length
man
modern and contemporary art
night
walking