Ten Views of the U.S. Capitol Drawing

Satirical art finds its material in odd resemblances. In this case it occurred to me that the cylinder of the Capitol dome looked a lot like the cylinder of a revolver, so I drew this. It wound up in Graydon Carter's online magazine, Airmail. As I was drawing it other iterations of handguns and revolvers came to mind, like the four year game of Russian roulette we've played, and yet here we are still alive––most of us are. Revolvers are interesting things. Deadly, but fun to draw. They are also very handsome pieces of engineering, more complex than a switchblade, prettier than an electric chair. The handgun is, like the cigarette, the prop for a hundred male mannerisms. A compensation for a variety of male inadequacies. "Is that a pistol in your pocket or are you just glad to see me..." Mae West said it onstage, but the joke originates in Lysistrata by Aristophanes, 411 B.C., long before the handgun was invented. Now there are women in Congress who need the compensation and demand the right to pack heat on the House floor. I don't think the Founders had that in mind.

Drawing:Graphite on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:18 W x 24 H x 1 D in

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