Head VII

Leon Golub was a leading figure of the Monster Roster, a group of artists working in Chicago during the 1950s. Like his contemporaries, Golub was interested in creating psychologically charged figurative works as evidence in Head VII. The paintings in this series, which were stylistically informed by Roman portrait heads, evoked the deep post-war anxiety felt by many of the Monster Roster artists. Of his work, he explained,

“I am simply a reporter. I report on these monsters because these monsters actually exist. This is not make believe; this is not fantasy; this is not symbolism. It is but it isn’t. These situations which call these forces into existence actually exist.”