Warrior, Peiping, Thomas Scofield Handforth

Exhibition Label:
"American Etchers Abroad, 1880-1939," Apr-2004, Reed Anderson
In 1930 Handforth was called back to the United States to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship, which allowed him to travel to Asia. He arrived in Peking, China later that year, expecting to stay about two weeks. The journey was extended six years and Handforth explored China, Japan, and Mongolia. As always, his principal interests were the people and their cultural practices, as exemplified by "Warrior, Peiping." Despite a number of anatomical irregularities, the awkward rendering of the figure’s hands, his oversized wrists, and small torso, the warrior’s face is masterfully drawn and remarkably expressive, suggesting the subject’s own sense of personal power. The ceremonial sword he holds is out of proportion and much too large for the petite warrior, but such visual disjunctions hardly lessen the impact of Handforth’s print.