Description:

James Louis Steg (American/Louisiana, 1922-2001), "Masked Rex Riders", 1968, mixed media on shaped wood panel, signed and dated lower right, 44 1/4 in. x 33 1/2 in., unframed. Note: James “Jim” Steg, now considered the most influential New Orleans printmaker of the twentieth century, only recently received this prestigious designation. A posthumous solo retrospective at the New Orleans Museum of Art in 2017 titled “Jim Steg: New Work” sparked a renewed interest in his oeuvre, focusing not only on printmaking, but also on his innovative forays into the fields of photography, collage, and sculpted wood. Steg spent much of his life as the head of the graphics department at Newcomb College teaching methods of printmaking, some of which he himself had pioneered. Before his tenure at Newcomb, Steg studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and served in the Army during WWII as part of a division known as the Ghost Army, a group of approximately 1000 artists who used subterfuge to deceive the enemy with inflatable tanks and theater props. Although he was best known for his prints, Steg’s imaginative spirit led him to experiment in new media, resulting in works such as the collage on a rough wood panel offered here. The figures, members of the Krewe of Rex, are formed of stiff material, sculpted into the shape of masked men. The piece seems to allude to a darkness behind the masks in an unpolished, intimidating rendering of the figures. Ref.: Steg, J.L. “About the Artist”. J L Steg. www.jimsteg.com. Accessed Aug. 16, 2018; Lord, Russell. “Restlessly Inventive.” Louisiana Cultural Vistas. New Orleans Museum of Art, 2017. http://www.knowlouisiana.org/restlessly-inventive. Accessed Aug. 21, 2018.

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January 26, 2019 10:00 AM CST
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