Last Day

David H. Becker

With the "Last Day," David Becker presents the viewer with an allegorical nightmare - a bound figure dangles over a wasteland, which seems poised to absorb the figure into a hole developing in the dry riverbed below. Though done in 1977 this image could well stand as a forerunner to today's climate change awareness.

Becker, who has been referred to as a 20th century Pieter Brueghel the Younger for his apocalyptic and Hell-like imagery, used both etching and engraving to create this surreal image. Printmaker/author Warrington Colescott used this image to illustrate Becker's work in the book "Progressive Printmakers - Wisconsin Artists and the Print Renaissance", page 158.

On page 150 Colescott quotes Becker regarding the responses to the content of his imagery: "Descriptions I have heard or read of the work, most of which either delight or offend me, are: allegorical, apocalyptic, provocative, prophetic, dream-like, surreal, fantastic, weird, frightening, disturbing, demanding, despairing, disgusting, irrelevant, inspiring, old, new-old, fascinating, morbid, medieval, bizarre, cathartic, mystery-plays (I like that), and well-drawn."

Regarding the interpretations of his images, he states on page 148: "I never worried about that part; the narrative would take care of itself. I was told as a student 'If you want to tell a story, write a book'..."

To purchase this work, see other works, or read a biography for David H. Becker use this link to our website: https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory/artist/2963/Becker/David.