The Poetry Prints

In 1979, Philadelphia artist Sam Maitin (1928–2004) told an interviewer that “as the world got worse, [his] colors got brighter and brighter.” Rather than becoming “an illustrator of [the world’s] agony,” he used vibrant inks to push back against the darkness and instead “seek out the delightful in life.” Maitin’s work still addresses serious issues, such as war and discrimination, but the bright colors he employed imbue each piece with an unquenchable hope. For Maitin, that hope came through connection. In these prints, Maitin engages in lively conversation with other artists by incorporating lines from poets of the 17th through the 20th century. The four cases in this gallery each pull a hue from Maitin’s palette to enliven and unify related archival objects. No one color jockeys for prominence in his prints; each is equally brilliant and works with the others to create harmony, prompting his audience to do the same.