Whatever Magic from the collection of Villanova University Art Collection

Whatever Magic

Lithograph

26 x 20 in

Edition. 42/200

Signature: Signed, numbered 42/200 and annotated "JDF 10th Anniversary" at lower left

Inv: 1996-LITH-034

Available

Maitin created this print for the 10th Anniversary of The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, in part to celebrate the recent technical, medical, and biological advancements of treatment for diabetes. To convey this hope he incorporated a white dove that sails across the paper. There are ten abstract feathers which represent the ten years of work achieved by the JDF.

Maitin paired this visual with a verse from a poem by John Ciardi, which Maitin himself dubbed “beautifully appropriate” in a letter he typed, signed, and attached to the back of this work. Similar to Maitin’s beliefs with art, Ciardi was strongly in favor of exposing poetry to mass audiences instead of creating art for the cultural elite. He consciously sought to address the average reader. Also, like Maitin, Ciardi used his work to play and connect with his children.

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From Villanova University Art Collection

Louis De Mayo

Western Landscape With Figure & Mules, 1953

Oil on board

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Mos Gleich

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Margaret Ward

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Frank Stamato

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Louis B. Sloan

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Harvey Silverman

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Graphite on paper

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Irene Carmean Ponsell

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oil on canvas

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Charles May

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Etching

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View All Artworks

About the artist

Samuel Maitin

1928-2004

Sam Maitin (1928-2004) was an American painter, sculptor, printmaker, muralist, graphic designer, teacher, and political activist. Known as Philadelphia's unofficial "Mayor of the Arts", Maitin attended the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Arts (later changed to University of the Arts) before working at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication, Woodmere Museum, and more.

Common visual themes among Maitin's work include geometric shapes, bright and unblended colors, and the occasional addition of text. His work is in the permanent collection of several museums throughout Europe and the United States.

Additional Artworks

Western Landscape With Figure & Mules, 1953

Winter Mountain Landscape With Buildings, 1943

Winter Landscape

Woman With Chair

West Chester Landscape

Woman

White Roses

Woman Selling Apples in the Rain

About the artist

Samuel Maitin