Leon Golub
American, 1922-2004

Interrogation II, 1981

Acrylic on linen
305 x 427 cm (120 x 168 in.)
Gift of Society for Contemporary Art, 1983.264

Art © Leon Golub/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts.

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. 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.