Wounded Civil War Soldier 1961

Larry Rivers made this print, Wounded Civil War Soldier, in 1961 using lithography. It’s a flurry of bold marks in red, blue, and black. Just imagining him in the print studio, reworking the image, wiping away, adding more, trying to get at something, you know? There’s so much raw energy here, so much emotion. The Confederate flag looms over the wounded soldier; you can see the drips and smears in the red ink. It's like Rivers is wrestling with the legacy of the Civil War and the way it continues to haunt the American psyche. I love the rawness of the mark-making. It reminds me of Goya, but also anticipates the work of later artists who grapple with history and identity in their work. Rivers is in conversation with all of them, pushing and pulling at the edges of representation. It's a powerful reminder that painting can be a space for working through difficult truths.