The Agony in the Garden
Chris Ofili
British, born 1968
2007
An etching with aquatint by Chris Ofili that reimagines the Biblical scene “The Agony in the Garden” as a web of sinuous, botanical lines punctuated by small dark beads, merging sacred narrative with ornamental abstraction.
Your eye is led along hair‑thin looping tendrils that unfurl into delicate blossoms, starbursts, and curling spirals on a pale ground, the airy filigree repeatedly arrested by tiny dark dots that read like beads or tears.
Using a traditional print technique to dissolve a canonical religious subject into decorative, organic networks, Ofili links contemporary British art to printmaking’s history while expanding how sacred imagery can be abstracted and personalized.
Medium
Portfolio of eleven etchings with aquatint
Dimensions
plate (each): 15 3/4 x 11 3/4" (40 x 29.8 cm); sheet (each): 20 7/8 x 16 7/8" (53 x 42.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Riva Castleman Endowment Fund
Accession
290.2015.a-k
Palette
Exhibitions
