Jim Dine - To the Lake
American, b. 1935
To the Lake, 1998
Woodcut, 47.5 x 38 inches
Edition 3/30
Pace Editions Inc.
01.003

Gift of Judy and J.D. Williamson, II (BBA '67, MBA'68)

At the turn of the millenium, Jim Dine remains one of the great American artists. Emerging in the context of Pop art and the print renaissance of the 1960s, he has made a significant mark in painting, sculpture and printmaking. His gifts as a draftsman have been put to use in natural renderings of the human figure and things that more often than not take on a fantastical dimension. Dine's “things” may be alter egos or emblems of the artist himself, as the motif of the valentine heart has been for over four decades.

In To The Lake, he almost imperceptibly blends a monumental heart into a wooded landscape. The heart's yellows, reds, and blues appear as both the scene's source of light and the lake itself, together suggesting the shimmering of reflections off water. The lake, a traditional symbol of the soul and its depths, is a fitting metaphor for the artist - here in an unconventional self-portrait.