Night in Caracas
/Adolph Dehn
1945
American, 1895-1968
Lithograph
Gift of the Dehn Estate, made possible by Harmon-Meek Gallery
Florida Southern College Permanent Collection FP.2017.29.16
The title of this print suggests the Venezualan location for this illustrative and witty scene. Dehn’s characters frequently have a palatably cartoon-like feel to them, and one could easily imagine any number of his images like these as satirical single-panel comics or political cartoons. Here, seven elegantly attired women cross the composition emerging from the far right, as if out of the woods. At far left, we see back-lit silhouetted figures standing at the edge of the woods, who seemingly watch the women from afar. Who are these women and why are they dressed to the nines? Where are they heading and where did they just come from? How has Dehn individualized each of the women’s behaviors? And what do we imagine happens next?