A Cloudy Morning Earth Day '95
Artist
Seymour Chwast
United States, born 1931
Date1995
MediumLithograph
Dimensions35 1/2 x 24 in. (90.2 x 61 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Object numberPH.4403
DescriptionThis poster incorporates one of the most common symbols used in environmental activism: the gas mask. This iconography dates back to January 1970, when LIFE magazine featured a mother and baby both wearing gas masks while out for a walk. On the first Earth Day three months later, an Associated Press photographer captured a student smelling a flower through a gas mask—the image was published in dozens of newspapers around the world, inextricably linking the object with environmental causes. While the concept of a person shaving while wearing a gas mask may seem humorous if somewhat extreme, air-quality levels in many cities, including Delhi and Shanghai, are now so hazardous that schools are frequently closed and particulate masks are distributed to residents.On View
Not on view
