Christ on the Cross

Jean (Hans) Arp

Associated Names
Jean (Hans) Arp

Artist, French, born Germany (Alsace), 1886 - 1966

This is a square woodcut with a uniformly textured black background and white lines that denote Jesus Christ on the cross. The lines are relatively thin with some variation in width and brightness. Christ’s head is an oval in the top middle. There are 4 short arcs around his head and 9 lines emanating from the middle in all directions. Downward slanted lines converge just under the head from both sides. On the left side there are two sets of lines joined like arms. The lines on the right are less slanted and a shade darker, except for two small converging lines that might form a thumb shape. Under the oval head, brighter lines angle down to the middle of the bottom. Directly underneath the oval, there are converging lines in the form of a torso. Three lines below are sharply diagonal to the left, and connected to two of them are lines of equal length angled in the opposite direction, forming legs. Continuing further down, there are two short parallel lines that are angled to the bottom left. Below, there is another x shape, taking the form of feet. Just to the right of the three sets of lines, there is one bright white line that angles slightly to the left, suggesting the vertical part of the cross. Underneath the bright white lines in the bottom section of lines, there are more faint lines and marks. Under the print, there is a thin strip of cream-colored paper. A signature in script on the bottom right reads “Arp” and an illegible two-digit number slash 30.
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Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

G. Cramer; purchased 1963 by Lessing J. Rosenwald; gift to NGA, 1964.

Associated Names

Wikidata ID

Q65510063

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