Artwork copyright Virginia Paquette. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Departure 2, 1993

Virginia Paquette
American (born 1947, died 2022)

Location: Othello High School, Othello

About the Artwork

Departure 2 is a linocut print by artist Virginia Paquette. The title and abstract imagery reference the allegorical triptych ‘Departure’ painted by German artist Max Beckmann in 1939. The Nazis condemned Beckmann, dismissing him from his teaching position at the Art School in Frankfurt and confiscating hundreds of his artworks. Paquette notes that Beckmann’s painting “is thought to be an attack on the political upheaval in Germany. The passion, energy and rhythm of the dark lines in his work express the conflict and create a strong visual message on an abstract level. The use of this structure continues to impact my work, and his honesty as an artist is heroic.” Paquette created this print during a printmaking residency at Centrum, a center for the arts in Port Townsend, on the Olympic Peninsula in Northwest Washington.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Othello School District.

About the Artist

The late Seattle-based artist Virginia Paquette created paintings and conceptual public art installations. She stated that the primary urge in her work is "to make marks, images, symbols that will communicate to you a message, feeling, visual stimuli that may be pleasing or thought-provoking."
Paquette received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1976 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1978, both in painting, from the University of Washington in Seattle.