The Trail of Tears

This wood engraving by Barry Moser is one of 25 from his "Gold Rush" series. Published in 1985 in an edition of 350, it measures 7 x 4 inches and is pencil signed by the artist on the lower margin. This series portrayed gold mining activities from America, Africa and Australia. Moser, from Tennessee, became a graphic artist and printmaker studying under Leonard Baskin and Jack Coughlin. In 1990 he became the "head of studio art" at the Rhode Island School of Design and his prints have been exhibited at the Berkshire Museum, the Los Angeles National Print Show and the Library of Congress National Print Exhibit. Moser states in his description of the images in this series of the "consumate dilemma" between the mining and the owning of gold, the high price politically, physically and spiritually that these men and their families paid for their dreams of a better life.