Artist:
Barry Moser
(American, b. 1940)
Sitter:
Barry Moser
(American, b. 1940)
Self-Portrait with Burin (1st state)
Medium: Wood engraving on handmade vellum paper
Date: ca. 1987
Dimensions:
9 × 5 1/2 in. (22.9 × 14 cm)
Accession number: 89.24.1
Copyright: © artist, artist's estate, or other rights holders
Label Copy:
Barry Moser fittingly depicts himself in this self-portrait in his signature medium of wood engraving. The small, tightly cropped, high-contrast work reveals little about the artist’s facial features which are obscured by a full beard and the brim of a cap. Front and center, however, is the primary tool of this artist’s trade: the burin. A burin is a sharp pointed tool with a grip fitted to the palm of the hand, which is used to incise lines onto a block of wood. The first and second states of his print have only subtle differences—primarily the paper and the artist’s monogram in the print.
Barry Moser fittingly depicts himself in this self-portrait in his signature medium of wood engraving. The small, tightly cropped, high-contrast work reveals little about the artist’s facial features which are obscured by a full beard and the brim of a cap. Front and center, however, is the primary tool of this artist’s trade: the burin. A burin is a sharp pointed tool with a grip fitted to the palm of the hand, which is used to incise lines onto a block of wood. The first and second states of his print have only subtle differences—primarily the paper and the artist’s monogram in the print.
Curatorial RemarksSIGNATURE