Object number1985.19.29

(Untitled)

Portfolio/Seriesfrom the series Inflammatory Essays

Date1979-1982

Artist Jenny Holzer (American, 1950-)

CultureAmerican

MediumCommercial offset lithograph in black ink on thin, wove blue paper

EditionUnlimited edition

DimensionsSheet: 16 15/16 x 17 in. (43 x 43.2 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase

On View

Not on view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

InscribedOn verso, by unidentified hand, lower right corner in pencil: 85.19.29

ProvenancePurchased from Rhona Hoffman Gallery

Vassar Exhibitions

Presses, Pop, and Pomade: American Prints Since the Sixties

Exhibition HistoryPresses, Pop, and Pomade: American Prints Since the Sixties, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, January 13 - March 19, 2006
DescriptionBlack italic text against a blue background reads: BECAUSE THERE IS NO GOD SOMEONE / MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MEN. / A CHARISMATIC LEADER IS IMPERATIVE. / HE CAN SUBORDINATE THE SMALL WILLS / TO THE GREAT ONE. HIS STRENGTH / AND HIS VISION REDEEM MEN. HIS / PERFECTION MAKES THEM ALL GRATEFUL. / LIFE ITSELF IS NOT SACRED, THERE / IS NO DIGNITY IN THE FLESH. / UNDIRECTED MEN ARE CONTENT WITH / RANDOM, SQUALID, POINTLESS LIVES. / THE LEADER GIVES DIRECTION / AND PURPOSE. THE LEADER FORCES / GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS, MANDATES / PEACE AND REPELS OUTSIDE / AGGRESSORS. HE IS THE ARCHITECT / OF DESTINY. HE DEMANDS ABSOLUTE LOYALTY. HE MERITS UNQUESTIONING / DEVOTION. HE ASKS THE SUPREME SACRIFICE. HE IS THE ONLY HOPE.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu