Jan Stussy, Impossible Act Performed by a Boxed Animal Posing as a Man, 1970 Lithograph

Jan Stussy (1921-1990) was an American painter, printmaker, filmmaker, and longtime UCLA professor whose work remained centered on the human figure. His figures are often distorted or compressed, with sharply drawn faces and awkward postures used to suggest anxiety, isolation, or strained relationships rather than conventional portraiture. Stussy taught painting and drawing at UCLA for more than four decades and emphasized the study of anatomy, regularly taking students to observe dissections at the university’s medical school. He also co-produced Gravity Is My Enemy, which received the 1978 Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. His work is represented in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Gallery of Art.

Impossible Act Performed by a Boxed Animal Posing as a Man, 1970, lithograph in black ink on buff Arches paper. Within a sharply defined perspective box, an anatomically distorted animal-human figure folds its heavy torso against the ceiling while elongated, skeletal limbs brace against the floor and right wall; a thin tail curves from the rear of the compressed body. Printed by Harry Westlund and published by the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in an edition of 20, with nine additional Tamarind impressions. Inscribed in graphite along the lower margin “TAMARIND IMPRESSION,” titled “IMPOSSIBLE ACT PERFORMED BY A BOXED ANIMAL POSING AS A MAN,” signed “Stussy,” and dated “70,” with the Tamarind and Westlund blindstamps at lower left. “Tamarind impression” identifies an impression retained by the workshop outside the numbered edition. Sheet measures approximately 30 x 22.25 inches. The sheet shows light handling and minor edge wear. Image presents well. Provenance of Martin and Enid Gleich.

Condition
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Dimensions
30 x 22.25 in