Plate (folio 28, side B, verso) from The Departure of the Argonaut
1983 - 1986, published 1986
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color lithograph from an illustrated book of 68 lithographs on Okawara paper
Dimensions
overall: 64.5 x 100 cm (25 3/8 x 39 3/8 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Hauslohner
Accession Number
1986.57.1.28a
Art Historical Context
Francesco Clemente's *Plate (folio 28, side B, verso) The Departure of the Arg* (1983–1986, published 1986 invites visitors into the mythic world of Jason and theonauts, the ancient Greek tale of heroic quests across perilous seas. As a key Italian figure in the Transavanguardia and Neo-Expressionist movements of the 1980s, Clemente revived bold, figurative storytelling with dreamlike intensity, blending Western mythology, Eastern spirituality, and personal symbolism. This large-scale color lithograph, measuring 64.5 x 100 cm, captures the drama of departure—perhaps evoking sails billowing or ...
About the Artist
Francesco Clemente
Francesco Clemente was born on March 23, 1952, in Naples, Italy, into an aristocratic family as the only son of Judge Marchese Lorenzo Clemente di San Luca and his wife, Bianca Quarto. Drawn to art from childhood through dreamlike drawings inspired by recollections, he moved to Rome in 1970 to study architecture at Sapienza University but soon abandoned it for visual arts. There, he met the concep...