Print by June Wayne, 'The Witnesses', 1952, USA

Lithograph on paper with added line and debossed strings. Image is vertical/ diagonal stretched cone shapes across field, each filled with different pattern. In three can be vaguely discerned shapes of figures, in another a bird like mask.

IIe/14

Given by Pat Gilmour

Pat Gilmour wrote the following note for her catalogue raisonne* of Wayne's prints: Wayne made two images entitled 'The Witnesses', the larger in three states, the smaller version in a single state. Although the small print was preparatory to the larger, Wayne entitled it 'Witnesses II' (cat 20). The three states of the larger image were originally called: I; II--first version; and II--second version. This numbering has caused some confusion and in this catalogue, arabic numbers have been assigned to each version, and Roman numbers to the states; thus the larger image becomes 'The Witnesses I' with states I, II and III; the smaller version (cat.20) becomes 'The Witnesses 2' . This state begins the 'Justice' Series which was inspired by Kafka's book 'The Trial'.

*unpublished

June Wayne established the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles in 1960 and was a key figure in the revival of interest in printmaking in general and lithography in particular among the highest ranking artists working in the USA duing the 1960s and '70s. Her own prints show her concern with exploring surface and texture in lithography - something which tied in directly with her fascination with scientific developments at the time.
This image was later developed into a series called Justice, inspired by 'The Trial' a story by Franz Kafka.

E.231-1999