DepartmentUnited States & Canada
Untitled (“For four generations…”)
NameDrawing
Artist
Eddie Arning
(American, 1898 - 1993)
CultureGerman-American
Dateca. 1970-1972
Place madeAustin, TEXAS, United States, North America
Mediumoil pastel on paper
Dimensions32 × 21 7/8 in. (81.2802 × 55.5626 cm)
Credit LineGift of Will and Angelita Channing
Object numberA.2023.2.4
Collections
ProvenancePurchased from a dealer in 1990s (dba Channing Dale Throckmorton Gallery, Santa Fe)
DescriptionOil on pastel drawing of a person, dressed in black pants and a blue top. Ground is a red-orange color with two rows of trees and at the bottom right in cursive, "For four generations we’ve been making medicines as if people’s lives depended on them." This particular drawing is based on a ca. 1970-72 print ad by Eli Lilly drug company (shown here). This ad campaign focused mostly on photographic images of children, pictured alone. Arning took certain liberties with the source materials he used, and articulated the figures in particular in a very stylized way, with the body and head in profile, circular eye looking toward the viewer, and a squiggle to represent the ear. He also typically created a drawn frame around the image, as seen in this drawing. Arning also centered the child and trees, rather than keeping the scene at the top of the frame as the original photo does. Lastly, he exaggerated the geometry of the trees, providing two orderly rows of angular-top trees as a path for the figure.
1980s
