Shang Bronze
1947
Morris Graves
American, born Fox Valley, Oregon, 1910; died Loleta, California, 2001
Graves imagined the emblems on ancient Chinese bronzes becoming re-animated, made monstrous and distorted in response to the evils of the modern world. In the collection of the Seattle Art Museum, this ancient ceremonial ax, a Qi, is decorated with a stylized serpent that, in Graves’ reinterpretation is a vicious, hissing snake, an embellishment befitting a weapon.
Ink and transparent and opaque watercolor on green-toned paper, now faded to tan
Sheet: 13 1/8 × 9 1/4 in. (33.3 × 23.5 cm)
Mat: 25 1/8 × 7 5/8 in. (63.8 × 19.4 cm)
Estate of Dorothy C. Malone
97.21
Photo: Elizabeth Mann
