Details

Title

Georgia Cotton Crop

Artist/Maker

Dox Thrash (American, 1893–1965)

Date

1944–1945

Medium

Carborundum mezzotint and etching on paper

Dimensions

9 9/16 x 10⅞ inches

Credit

Purchase with David C. Driskell African American Art Acquisition Fund

Accession #

2011.107

Location

Currently not on view

One of the most renowned African American printmakers of the twentieth century, Dox Thrash was instrumental in the development of the carborundum printmaking process. After signing on with the Federal Art Project in 1937, Thrash and his colleagues created this efficient technique, which resulted in more durable plate surfaces but required less time and effort to produce than traditional methods. Though appreciated as an economical advance in printmaking, the technique was never widely used. Thrash’s use of the carborundum technique here enhances the work’s chiaroscuro complexities. He intentionally obscures the faces of his figures and other details, as if channeling a foggy memory of his youth in rural Georgia.