Double page plate (pages 30 and 31) from Selections from Satan's Saint
Robert Hansen
American, 1924–2013
1964–65, published 1965
A double-page lithograph plate from the illustrated book Selections from Satan's Saint in which Hansen assembles bulbous, contorted figures in a crowded procession to unsettle and satirize human physicality and desire.
What hits you first is the rhythmic repetition of swollen torsos and spindly limbs—a dense, dark frieze above and a pale, crawling register below—where faces and appendages appear to dissolve into ambiguous, almost sculptural biomorphic shapes.
Dating from the 1960s, this work shows how Hansen pushed lithography and the artist’s book toward transgressive, surreal figuration, using printmaking to carry narrative, satire, and psychological intensity beyond conventional illustration.
Medium
One from an illustrated book with sixteen lithographs
Dimensions
composition (irreg.): 13 1/16 × 27 15/16" (33.1 × 71 cm); double page: 13 1/16 × 27 15/16" (33.1 × 71 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Kleiner, Bell & Co.
Accession
1515.1967.12
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
