RIGGS, Robert

1992.144.jpg

Description

Accident Ward
lithograph
sheet: 19 3/4 x 23 3/4 in; mat: 22 x 26 1/2 in
Robert Riggs’ was commissioned by one of the largest pharmaceutical companies at the time, Smith, Kline and French, to do a suite of prints surrounding the theme of medical care and the treatment of the insane in the US. The portfolio which resulted was meant to be sold to doctors for display in their offices, a comical notion considering the disturbing and dreary subject matter. Accident Ward depicts the aftermath of a violent domestic dispute in which the participants are patched up by doctors. Psychopathic Ward pictures mentally ill patients wandering about in a confused or tormented state and shoved into a bare room. Rather than showing doctors as heroes, Riggs’ prints focus on the patients being treated and seem to call out for more advanced medical practices to assist with treatment.

Date

1940

Creator

RIGGS, Robert
b. United States, 1896 - 1966

Source

Gift of Don Trevey to the Ken Trevey Collection of American Realist Prints

Identifier

1992.144

Citation

RIGGS, Robert and b. United States, 1896 - 1966, “RIGGS, Robert,” UCSB ADA Museum Omeka, accessed March 28, 2024, http://art-collections.museum.ucsb.edu/items/show/2210.