Hungry Ghosts I
1964
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lithograph (aluminum) in black on white Arches paper
Dimensions
sheet: 45.8 x 35.7 cm (18 1/16 x 14 1/16 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Dorothy J. and Benjamin B. Smith
Accession Number
1984.34.370.2
Art Historical Context
**Hungry Ghosts I** by Lee Mullican, created in 1964, is a compelling lithograph printed from aluminum plates in bold black ink on luxurious white Arches paper. This intimate sheet, measuring 45.8 x 35.7 cm, exemplifies the mid-20th-century revival of lithography as a fine art medium. Arches paper, a high-quality cotton rag stock prized for its texture and longevity, allowed Mullican to achieve rich tonal contrasts and intricate details, making it ideal for museum-quality prints. Mullican, an innovative American artist known for his abstract, biomorphic forms influenced by Surrealism and Nati...
About the Artist
Lee Mullican
Lee Mullican was an American painter whose visionary, intensely patterned canvases placed him at the intersection of Abstract Expressionism, Surrealism, and non-Western spiritual traditions. Born in 1919 in Chickasha, Oklahoma, he studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and later at the University of Oklahoma before serving as a cartographer in the United States Army during World War II. That exp...