An Outline of History
Date1975
Artist
Larry Rivers
(American painter, sculptor, 1925–2002)
Publisher
Styria Studio Inc.
Medium13-color lithograph and screen print
Dimensionscomposition: 21 × 35 3/4 in. (53.3 × 90.8 cm)
sheet: 32 1/4 × 41 1/4 in. (81.9 × 104.8 cm)
sheet: 32 1/4 × 41 1/4 in. (81.9 × 104.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Lorillard, a Division of Loew's Theatres, Inc., 1975
Object number1975-143
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextRivers's pop art presentation of John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence as a brightly colored diagram blurs the line between history painting and history class. In accompanying text, the artist draws attention to the long distance between the inciting events of the American revolution and the nation's reverence of those events in the present: “Although there is a generous amount of blah blended with affection that I feel for the 200th anniversary of a thing called country, I am glad to have the opportunity to express this. So, An Outline of History is based on the birth of the Declaration of Independence through an American primitive painting celebrating that hopeful document ten years after it was signed. For a moment it carried me back through all the tangles of our own mad history.” - LR
