Dawn Lyric #1

Joseph Marsh Sheridan

In the 1930s Sheridan worked as a lithographer in the Bay Area’s printmaking division of the Federal Arts Project. This piece was created as a part of a series titled “Lyrics,” featuring figures in various poses staged in fantastical landscapes, likely inspired by the artist’s former career in theater. A couple have arrived in a small clearing with a patch of wildflowers, separating themselves from the figures clustered in the background.

Stylized, luminescent figures in landscapes and cityscapes were the chief subjects of Sheridan’s early artistic path. This period is reminiscent of both the Art Deco movement and German Expressionism, which he became familiar with during his time as a student of Hans Hoffman. His transition into Cubism came about not long after he arrived in the Bay Area. Around the time of this lithographic series, Sheridan also created the more Cubist “Dance” series, which featured sharply angular figures in various forms of movement.