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Charlotte’s Gaze

Dennis Kardon

Artwork Details

Charlotte’s Gaze
1985
Dennis Kardon
lithograph and woodcut on off-white Saikosein Kozo paper
24 15/16 x 27 1/4 in. (63.2 x 69.2 cm);31 3/16 x 33 5/16 in. (79.06 x 84.46 cm)
Museum Purchase
1992/1.120

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Description

Kardon made a number of prints inspired by Jacques-Louis David's celebrated Neo-Classical painting that depicted the French revolutionist Jean-Paul Marat after he had been assassinated in his bath. Kardon's woodcut of 1983 on this theme presents both Marat and his assassin Charlotte Corday—not included in David's painting—frontally. The artist's versions of 1985 and 1986, both shown here, represent what Charlotte herself saw just before she stabbed Marat. The fragmentation of the victim's body is made more poignant by the cropping of his head.

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