Artwork copyright Thomas Schlotterback. Photo courtesy of the artist, 1985.

ERA era ego #2 Chevalier du l'Moyen Age, 1984

Thomas Schlotterback
American (born 1929, died 2015)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

ERA era ego #2 Chevalier du l'Moyen Age is a drawing by late artist Tomas Schlotterback. It is part of his "ERA era ego" series of drawings reflecting on our experience of modern life. This drawing's title translates from French as "Knight of the Middle Age." It uses humor and allegory to reference the toils of growing older. Notice how parts of the knight's armor is missing. He rides a steer instead of a horse. His lance dangles, broken. Schlotterback notes, "This is the image that many face when they reach that magic figure 50 and it is a debilitating image to them. They do all manner of things to attempt to overcome it… The implication of the drawing is that the image is not a true existence. It is only the fantasy of those who are self-indulgent and self-pitying and look for new ways to preserve and express their past image of themselves as a knight in the world."

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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Late artist and professor Thomas Schlotterback (1929-2015) created drawings, paintings, and fine art prints. Schlotterback served as professor of art history at Western Washington University in Bellingham from 1965 until his retirement in 1993. Born in Kansas, his passion for art and art history began as an undergraduate at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. There he received Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees. He went on to recieve a PhD in art history from the State University of Iowa, Iowa City in 1973. He also served as an assistant professor at colleges in Texas, Iowa, and Illinois.