Moratorium

Carlos Irizarry, Moratorium, 1969, screenprint, A (image): 21 1⁄2 x 27 3⁄4 in. (54.6 x 70.5 cm) B (image): 21 3⁄8 x 28 3⁄8 in. (54.3 x 72.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.24.1A-B, © 1969, Carlos Irizarry

Artwork Details

Title
Moratorium
Artist
Assistant
Printer
Date
1969
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
A (image): 21 1⁄2 x 27 3⁄4 in. (54.6 x 70.5 cm) B (image): 21 3⁄8 x 28 3⁄8 in. (54.3 x 72.1 cm)
Copyright
© 1969, Carlos Irizarry
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description
screenprint
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — flower
  • Object — other — flag
  • Allegory — civic — rebellion
  • Occupation — political — president
Object Number
2013.24.1A-B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2013.24.1A-B

Artwork Description

The density of images in Moratorium conveys the ubiquitous presence of the Vietnam War in everyday life. Here Irizarry appropriated photographs and text from media sources. Dominating the left side is a likeness of Vice President Spiro Agnew, famous for his dismissal of antiwar intellectuals as "impudent snobs," next to an image of a large antiwar protest. President Richard Nixon's face appears below, tinted orange and repeated in a pop-style grid. Irizarry also quotes antiwar works by other artists: Jasper Johns's 1969 Moratorium flag poster and Picasso's 1937 painting Guernica. Picasso's painting--condemning the Nazi bombing of Spanish civilians--had been on loan in New York since the 1940s, and Vietnam War-era activists embraced it as an emblem of war resistance.

Works by this artist (20 items)

View all artworks
Image Not Available
Christmas in Paris
Artist
Date1939
lithograph
Not on view
Mabel Dwight, Old Aquarium, n.d., lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Audrey McMahon, 1968.98.42
Old Aquarium
Artist
Daten.d.
lithograph
Not on view
Mabel Dwight, Convent, Staten Island, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1981.48.3
Convent, Staten Island
Artist
lithograph
Not on view
Mabel Dwight, Tourist in the Crypt at Chartres, 1928, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Michael J. Ettner, 2021.88.59
Tourist in the Crypt at Chartres
Artist
Date1928
lithograph on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2011.12 - SAAM-2011.12_1 - 77591
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
October 25, 2013–March 2, 2014
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century, when the concept of a collective Latino identity began to emerge.

More Artworks from the Collection

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Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
City is Man
Artist
Date1941-1952
linocut
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Untitled
Artist
Date1976
embossed paper
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Mandala
Artist
Date1977
lithograph
Not on view
Image Not Available
Les Quais de la Seine a Paris
Artist
Date1917
hand-colored etching on postcard
Not on view