New York Stock Exchange

1983

American, born 1957

This woodcut by Seattle artist Ross Palmer Beecher offers a critique of the rampant consumerism that prevailed in the 1980s. Against the background of a newspaper's stock pages, a jagged line shows the volatility of the market. A maniacal figure in a zoot suit create the ups and downs with his pogo stick; a monkey in a business suit hanged on during the turbalence. Beecher's use of the woodcut suggests the influence of German Expressionist artists, as well as the graphic work of Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913).

Woodblock print; ink on paper

Image h.: 14 3/16 in.

Image w.: 18 1/2 in.

Sheet h.: 15 15/16 in.

Sheet w.: 20 1/16 in.

Gift of the artist

98.84

Provenance: cf., Darling, Michael et al. "Betty Bowen Award: Thirty Years." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 2009, pp. 58-59

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "The Art of Protest" April 27, 2000 - January 21, 2001

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