Lode Lynching — Columbia
After studying art in Ohio, Chicago, and New York, Surendorf settled in California, where he would spend much of his life. This work was made in Columbia, a former gold-mining town in the Sierra foothills that had been largely deserted, and where Surendorf lived, worked, and opened an art school. He frequently depicted the dilapidated houses and local residents in works made during this period, many of which were devoted to the history of California. Surendorf excelled at printmaking, with a particular strength in relief prints. Here, he used only black ink to create a dramatic image foreshadowing violence. Employing a variety of lines to produce the effects of different textures and forms, the composition recalls the work of American Regionalist artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry.
Artwork Details
- Title: Lode Lynching — Columbia
- Artist: Charles Frederick Surendorf (American, 1906–1979)
- Date: ca. 1955
- Medium: Linocut
- Dimensions: Sheet: 14 3/16 × 16 15/16 in. (36 × 43 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Richard and JoAnn Edinburg Pinkowitz, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.69.76
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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