Abraham and Issac, Giclée, 2025
The story of Abraham and Isaac inspired John August Swanson throughout his life. He was drawn to the tension between faith and family and the story’s varied interpretations. It is a symbol of sacrifice and of trust in God in the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions. In Christianity, Abraham is the father of the faith; in Judaism, Abraham is the patriarch of the Jewish people; and, in Islam, the sacrifice is a key moment and is celebrated at the festival of Eid al-Adha.
Such obedience grant us, O Lord!
Ever to Thy most holy word.
That in the same we may accord
As this Abraham was bayn;
And then altogether shall we
That worthy King in heaven see,
And dwell with Him in great glorye
For ever and ever. Amen
— Benjamin Britten, Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, Op 51
John August Swanson was first inspired to create “Abraham and Issac” while he was in England, after hearing Benjamin Britten’s musical composition, Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac, Op 51, based on the Medieval Miracle Plays of Chester, England. He also visited London, Paris and other European art exhibits, and made sketches based on Bulgarian icons, medieval prayer books and Islamic illuminated manuscripts. The sketches he had made became the basis for a 1974 crayon sgraffito painting.
In 1976, he further developed the painting for a serigraph edition, and made additional drawings and sketches of the story, which were used in the Howard Schwartz book, The Midrashim.
Film Scan of the serigraph, Abraham and Issac, 1976
Scans of the negatives which were sent to England to print The Midrashim, 1976
In 1994, Swanson, using a print from the 1976 serigraph edition as an underpainting, expanded and enlarged the artwork with additional scenes and details in an eponymous painting. He had often mentioned the painting when referring to “Abraham and Isaac” and wanted to do an edition print based on the expanded work.
Film Scan of Abraham and Issac, 1994
A limited edition of “Abraham and Isaac” based on John August Swanson’s 1994 painting was discussed as a possible serigraph edition at Aurora Serigraphic Studio between Swanson and his printer, Jim Butterfield, in 2006 before the printing of “The Procession, 2007”. However, Swanson decided to print “The Procession” because there was already an earlier serigraph edition of “Abraham and Isaac”, and a poster of the painting was printed in 1995.
Photograph of Abraham and Isaac, 1995 Poster
Following the completion of “The Procession”, which took over a year to print, the Swanson Studio did not have the funds to begin work on another large serigraph project. Swanson instead worked on smaller circus serigraphs in 2008, “Star Clown” and “Papageno”, and considered that “The Procession” might be the last large serigraph he would create. He then began looking into giclée printing to make a larger number of his artworks available as edition prints, and the Swanson Studio began a number of concurrent projects. “Abraham and Isaac” was considered for a giclée print edition in 2008. Unfortunately, the Studio’s 4”x5” film transparency of the 1994 painting was too lacking in detail, and the 8”x 10” film transparency was determined to be too blurry to print. It was decided that the piece could not be printed as a giclée from the film records.
In 2009 John August Swanson was inspired to create his “Last Supper” serigraph. “Abraham and Isaac” was put aside again, and in 2010 he printed serigraphs of “Madonna of the Harvest” and “Psalm 23”. In 2011 planning was done on a “Dream of Jacob” serigraph, but Swanson’s printer passed away, Aurora Serigraphic Studio closed, and “Psalm 23” was John August Swanson’s final serigraph edition.
First Giclee Proof File for Abraham and Isaac, 2019
Over many years of printing giclée editions, more work was done in the Swanson Studio to make more complicated giclée works with greater details before film and artwork scans were sent for printing. Giclée print editions required the scanning and combining of multiple film scans, close in detail photos, new paintings and painted details, as well as new line work, and hand-done digital corrections for print files. During the printing of “River, 2018” (the River giclée edition required a number of new drawings for the artwork, which can be seen in LMU’s Digital Library, and Swanson believed similar work could be done for “Abraham and Isaac”), a new scan was made from the archived 8”x10” film transparency of “Abraham and Isaac” on August 22, 2018.
Second Giclee Proof File for Abraham and Isaac, 2019
Work continued slowly on the digital file. The artwork has four main sequential scenes, as well as nine additional smaller scenes, and a myriad of patterned borders surrounding the images. Work was also being completed on “Francis Listens to the Fish, 2018”, and being done on “Francis of Assisi, 2019” at the same time. By the end of 2019, color corrections and changes were made, and two proofs were printed. Swanson began work on new paintings for the smaller scenes at the top of the piece, and the Studio attempted to get new photographs taken of the 1994 painting from the owner.
New Paintings for the top left of Abraham and Isaac, 2021
In 2020, the Swanson Studio had lost contact with the owner of the painting, and work had halted on “Abraham and Isaac” due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The project was put aside, and John August Swanson worked on “The Storm, 2020”, and “The Canticle, 2020”.
At the beginning of 2021, Swanson continued work on the paintings for the smaller scenes, and corrections had been completed on many of the faces in the artwork. During the lockdown, Swanson had heard of how migrant workers had to continue to work close to each other without any COVID protections and was planning to use the smaller paintings on a poster for migrant worker rights.
Proof of the uncompleted “Migrant Workers” Poster, May 2021
In May of 2021, Swanson was too weak to continue to work on his paintings. Work on “Abraham and Isaac” and the migrant worker poster stopped, but work continued on “Ecclesiastes, 2022” until John August Swanson passed away on September 23, 2021.
Some of the Linework and Metallic Colors for the New Abraham and Isaac Giclee, 2025
After the posthumous releases of “Ecclesiastes, 2022”, “Nativity, 2022”, “Shepherds, 2023”, and the “Psalm 23 Poster, 2024″, the Swanson Studio began work on “Abraham and Isaac”. This new giclée edition was completed posthumously by the John August Swanson Studio, and joins elements of Swanson’s serigraphs, paintings, and sketches.
Abraham and Issac, Giclée, 2025
