Josiah McElheny’s “The Metal Party”

Original color illustration by Marcellus Hall featuring the opening night of artist Josiah McElheny’s art installation “The Metal Party” (which paid homage to Metallische Fest, a 1929 avant-garde costume celebration held at the Bauhaus school in Dessau, Germany) at the Brooklyn waterfront in December 2001. Guests of the opening were encouraged to don silver Mylar costumes and see themselves as part of the installation. Marcellus’s illustration accompanied a segment about the opening in the “Goings On About Town” section of The New Yorker’s double December 24 & 31, 2001 issue.

Ink, watercolor, and gouache on 11.75” x 8.5” Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper. Marcellus’s initials appear in the lower right corner of the piece. The reverse side contains the dates of creation and publication of the piece, Marcellus’s signature stamp and abbreviated handwritten signature, among other notes. Excellent condition.