Bruce Nauman

American, b. 1941

Raw War
1971

Lithograph
24.625 x 30.375 x 1.5 in.
Gift of the Masi Kolb Collection
2024.14.2

In Raw War, artist Bruce Nauman plays with the power and form of words. Nauman, one of America’s best-known conceptual artists, often uses visual puns and humor to explore human relationships and societal systems. Raw War investigates the interplay and implications of the two words and visually highlights the reversal of the “R’s,” emphasizing the rawness and pain of war and conflict. Created during the Vietnam War, this work is one of Nauman’s early lithographs, and his first word image print. A lithograph is created by drawing or etching an image in reverse on a stone or plate and then pressed onto paper in a mirror image. Raw and war became pivotal words for Nauman and repeat in his artwork. The power of his work is its timeliness and ability to resonate in different contexts, from its creation during the Vietnam War, to current global conflicts, or in personal relationships.

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