Act of Vengeance
Artist
Kenneth Southworth Davies
(b. 1925)
Date1958
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions18 x 26 in.
ClassificationsOil Painting
Credit LineGift of the artist
Object number2010.21LIC
DescriptionDavies’ “Act of Vengeance” was published in the September 6, 1958 issue of “Saturday Evening Post”, accompanying a short story of the same name by Robert H. Albright. The post-World War II narrative follows an American man who must determine whether a Nazi commander and an old man he recognizes in the streets of a town in northern Greece are one in the same. Davies juxtaposes portraits of these two men, and each seems to be the complete opposite of the other. One, General Schwartz, wears garments resembling those of a member of the Nazi Gestapo; the other, Herr Schwartz, is a shopkeeper dressed in a plain brown suit and thick-rimmed glasses. As the viewer looks more closely, however, similarities emerge: prominently lidded eyes with heavy bags underneath and high cheekbones that lead into squared jawlines. The vivid colors behind each reflect a cold-blooded tyrant contrasted with a reserved, everyday man, yet the shoulder clasp of the former flows effortlessly onto the jacket of the latter. Could the physical overlap between the two men suggest that the image on the right is an aged version of the one on the left? If so, is the older man still just as merciless as he was years before? This illustration proves Davies’ mastery over detail and provokes questions that urge the viewer to read on.
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