A provocative and somewhat haunting portrait of a young woman - it’s called, “I’ll Be What I Choose.”
A pioneer in color lithography, Benton Spruance spent most of his life in Philadelphia, where he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and became one of the city's leading artists. In the twenties and thirties Spruance was known for prints that one critic described as his "velvety urban scenes and 'social conscious' series," which chronicled the life of ordinary men and women at work and play. However, Spruance was also a painter and draftsman who during this period took advantage of two Guggenheim fellowships to travel throughout the United States and Europe and sketch landscapes.
In the forties Spruance began producing moody, psychologically charged lithographic portraits of women, followed by mystically tinged work, based on biblical passages, that became increasingly subtle and sculptural in effect. You'll notice a kkk cap floating in the background...
Color lithograph, signed and titled and numbered 39/40 in pencil, image 18 ¾ x 13 ¼”, sheet 23 x 16 ¼”. With frame and archival matting, it measures 18 3/4" by 24" in height.
I had it framed in a simple but elegant wood frame so as not to let it get damaged. An almost copper/gold gilt on the inside of the frame with repeated burnt orange around the edges. Exquisite! Ready to be hung.
