Portrait of Sphinx: Etching 2
by Masuo Ikeda
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museum
- Image courtesy of
- Harvard Art Museum
Description
The second plate in Ikeda's Sphinx series advances the investigation begun in the first, likely introducing new compositional elements or isolating particular aspects of the subject—fragmenting the sphinx form, shifting the vantage, or introducing different tonal densities through additional acid biting. Serial printmaking of this kind treats a motif as something to be circled rather than resolved, accumulating perspectives rather than converging on a definitive image. The intaglio surface may show increased working as Ikeda builds complexity across the sequence. The Sphinx's identity as a figure who poses questions without answering them mirrors the irresolute quality of Ikeda's serial approach to portraiture.
