7 Stroke Skunk
1996
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
direct gravure on wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 27.6 × 28.9 cm (10 7/8 × 11 3/8 in.) sheet: 28.9 × 30.3 cm (11 3/8 × 11 15/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
2024.132.754
Art Historical Context
Tom Marioni's *7 Stroke Skunk*1996) is a captivating example of conceptual printmaking, rendered in direct gravure on smooth wove paper. This plate measures 27.6 × 28.9 cm, with the full sheet slightly larger at 28.9 × 30.3 cm, inviting contemplation of its minimalist form. Marioni, a pioneering San Francisco artist known for blending performance and drawing, reduces the skunk—a sly, striped creature—to just seven deliberate strokes, distilling essence into economy. Direct gravure, a precise intaglio technique involving photomechanical etching, yields velvety blacks and subtle tones ideal for...
About the Artist
Tom Marioni
Tom Marioni (born 1937) is an American conceptual and performance artist based in San Francisco who has been a pivotal figure in West Coast conceptual art since the late 1960s. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he studied at the Cincinnati Art Academy before moving to San Francisco, where he became deeply involved in the city's experimental art scene. In 1970, Marioni founded the Museum of Conceptual Art...