The Last Trumpet
Boris Mikhallovich Artzybasheff, American (born Russia), 1899 - 1965
1937
Wood engraving on wove paper
Edition 27/200
Image: 11 5/16 × 7 15/16 in. (28.7 × 20.1 cm)
Sheet: 14 3/4 × 11 1/4 in. (37.5 × 28.6 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the Appleton 1792 Memorial Fund
PR.937.14
Printer
Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Publisher
The Woodcut Society, Kansas City, Missouri
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Inscriptions
Titled, in graphite, lower left margin: "The Last Trumpet" igned, in graphite, lower right margin: Boris Artzybasheff; inscribed, in graphite, lower left margin: "The Last Trumpet"; reverse, inscribed, in blue ink, lower left: Artzybasheff / The last trumpet / Woodcut / Bought from / Woodcut Society; reverse, stamped, in green ink, lower left: DARTMOUTH COLLEGE / DEPT. OF ART AND / ARCHAEOLOGY; reverse, stamped, in black ink, lower left: DARTMOUTH COLLEGE / LIBRARY
Label
An elongated, muscular angel tightly grasps the seventh trumpet named in the New Testament, marking the commencement of both a biblical and, in this work, a personal apocalypse. The Last Trumpet’s juxtaposition of streamlined modern structures and classical ruins alludes to the artist’s dissatisfaction with the ambitions of modernity. Artzybasheff employs simplified characteristics of the 1930s Art Deco style to reflect on the apocalypse’s upheaval as meteors rain down on the city, engulfing it in flames and plumes of smoke. The angel’s dominating stance, on the other hand, points to the individual’s capacity to shape world events and redirect history.
From the 2024 exhibition, A Space for Dialogue 116, Apocalypse When: reflections on our collective psyche, Molly Rouzie '24, Homma Family Intern
Exhibition History
A Space for Dialogue 116, Apocalypse When: reflections on our collective psyche, Molly Rouzie '24, Homma Family Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 6 - March 2, 2024
Provenance
The Woodcut Society, Kansas City, Missouri; sold to present collection, 1937.
Catalogue Raisonne
J. Czestochowski, In James Swann, Cedar Rapids, 1990, App. C, no. 12.
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