Simulated Drawings - Spurious Engravings

exploring what computers do best - simulation.

Titian’s «The Submersion of the Pharaoh’s Army in the 

Upper New York Bay» 

as seen in the Fogg Museum

2015-2022

12 laser engravings, each 30.5 × 40.6 cm

on Arches 300 lb/640 gsm watercolor paper

Edition: 3 + 1EA  

In 1997 a friend of mine bought three woodcuts with horses, knights and waves. According to the antiquarian, they were the last sheets of an originally twelve-part portfolio, all in mint condition, probably the work of an unknown artist from the late 19th century who specialized in horses. In reality, it was «The Fall of Pharaoh's Army in the Red Sea» from 1515-1517 by Titian (Titiano Vecellio, 1490-1576). 

On a visit to Harvard University's Fogg Museum in 2015, I first saw a complete copy of this large print (112.5 × 221.5 cm). I photographed it, retouched the images in Photoshop, and replaced Titian's contemporary city in the background with a view of New York and the Brooklyn Bridge. I engraved the twelve panels into heavy watercolor paper with the help of a laser, completing the circle of light entering the camera lens, being digitized and issuing once again as light of memory burning itself into the paper..