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Label Text This dramatic black-and-white lithograph depicts a sleeping baby with a rifle suspended above, a mouse gnawing at the cord. A peaceful New England village landscape is visible through the window. The print is a statement against nuclear war by the politically engaged artist, whose leftist leanings caused him to be blacklisted and ignored by the art world. A pencil inscription dedicates this impression of the print to the artist's daughter, Clara, and to her husband. Rockwell Kent used a drawing of Clara, made when she was a baby, as the source of the baby in the lithograph. Source: News, October November December, 2002.
DimensionsSheet: 11 × 15 15/16 in. (27.9 × 40.5 cm)
Image: 9 1/8 × 12 in. (23.2 × 30.5 cm)
Accession Number 2002.12
Classificationsprint
SignedRockwell Kent (l,r graphite)
InscriptionsTo Cap and Clara (l,l graphite)
EditionEdition of 100
ProvenanceArtist; Clara [artist's daughter, gift from previous]; Catherine Burns Gallery, Oakland, CA [acquired from previous by 2002]; (Des Moines Art Center Print Club); Des Moines Art Center [gift from previous, 2002]
Heavy Heavy Hangs over Thy Head
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines
Photo Credit: Rich Sanders, Des Moines