Description

The first African American artist to work at Philadelphia's Fine Print Workshop, Dox Thrash is known for inventing carborundum printmaking, the technique used here. A coarsely grained industrial product was burnished to create grays and highlights alongside rich, dark tones. This print, a self-portrait, was the first that Thrash made using his new and experimental technique. The artist looks slightly upward, boldly and directly, from within a stark field of black.