Leonard Lehrer, Courtyard at Cocoyoc

This lithograph represents a courtyard in Cocoyoc, a city in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Morelos. The elegant fountain and lush, monumental vegetation appealed to Lehrer, who sought "paradise gardens” during travels in Mexico, the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. He was initially inspired by the integration of art, architecture, and nature at Alhambra, the extra-ordinary fourteenth-century Muslim palace in Granada, Spain to which he travelled in 1969. For Lehrer, the garden at Cocoyoc, like Alhambra, inspires a unique sense of awe, and here he conveys that emotion through rich tones, almost painterly sensuality, brilliant illusion of light, and arresting detail. The lithograph, like most of Lehrer's prints, was "pulled” on the press by Ruth Fine.