Acquisition
1983

Leon Albert Golub
American, 1922-2004
Interrogations II, 1980-1981
Acrylic on canvas
120 x 168 in. (304.8 x 426.7 cm)
The Artist
currently on display at the
Art Institute of Chicago
A leading cultural and civil rights activist in the United States from the early 1960s until his death in 2004, Leon Golub consistently created works that addressed humanitarian issues.
The Acquisition
This piece belongs to a series of paintings that deals with human rights violations in Central America. By fixing the gaze of his grinning perpetrators directly on the viewer, Golub makes it difficult to look away. The artist thus compels viewers to examine their own relationship to the brutality depicted.