id:			159512
accession number:	1996.277
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1996.277
updated:		2023-03-15 15:46:26.069000

Mr. X, c. 1937–38. Dox Thrash (American, 1892–1965). Carborundum print; platemark: 16.6 x 13.2 cm (6 9/16 x 5 3/16 in.); sheet: 24 x 21.9 cm (9 7/16 x 8 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1996.277

title:				Mr. X
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. 1937–38
creation date earliest:		1932
creation date latest:		1943
current location:		
creditline:			John L. Severance Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	carborundum print
department:	Prints
collection:	PR - Carborundum
type:		Print
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Dox Thrash (American, 1892–1965)  - artist

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measurements: Platemark: 16.6 x 13.2 cm (6 9/16 x 5 3/16 in.); Sheet: 24 x 21.9 cm (9 7/16 x 8 5/8 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Great Migration:  The Evolution of African American Art, 1790-1945
	opening date:   2000-06-16T00:00:00
	<i>The Great Migration:  The Evolution of African American Art, 1790-1945</i>. Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH (organizer) (June 16-October 22, 2000).

	title:		Currents and Constellations: Black Art in Focus
	opening date:   2022-02-20T05:00:00
	<i>Currents and Constellations: Black Art in Focus</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-June 26, 2022).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>Our Stories: African American Prints and Drawings</em>. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 26 - May 18, 2014).

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PROVENANCE

	(Dolan/Maxwell, Inc., Philadelphia, PA)
	date: ?-1996
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: September 16, 1996
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact:
Dox Thrash used this print to debut his new carborundum printmaking technique to the public in a 1938 exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

digital description:
The first African American artist to work at Philadelphia's Fine Print Workshop, Dox Thrash is known for inventing carborundum printmaking, the technique used here. A coarsely grained industrial product was burnished to create grays and highlights alongside rich, dark tones. This print, a self-portrait, was the first that Thrash made using his new and experimental technique. The artist looks slightly upward, boldly and directly, from within a stark field of black.

wall description:
While working in the Works Progress Administration's print division in 1939-40, Thrash invented a process to develop a wide range of tonal effects. To create texture, he first roughened a metal plate with carborundum, a coarsely grained industrial product used for grinding and polishing, and he then burnished the plate to create grays and highlights. This technique allowed Thrash to produce rich velvety blacks and to model figures in light and dark.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES