James Sicner, Artist

This montage of images presents the viewer with a panorama of the history of printing, writing, and other signs as visual expressions of the human experience.

Measuring 15 feet by 80 feet, the mural, which surrounds the south staircase of the Library, is the largest montage in the world. Photographic enlargements of black and white line drawings and prints are mounted on the wall and visually integrated by use of shadow brush techniques. Many familiar documents and illustrations are readily recalled, from the clay tablets of antiquity to the rocket ships of modern space exploration. The artist has included portions of hieroglyphics, ancient writings and illustrations, money caricatures, and cartography.

Central to human experience has been the need for a worshipful deity, whether the expression be Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist, or other. Laws for governing one's actions and deeds also have been paramount to our existence. We see these needs brought out in the mural's focal point, depicting liberty, freedom, and independence, the hue and cry of humankind from earliest times. Society's artistic achievements are communicated through selections from literary works, various art forms, and alphabets which also have beautiful visual characteristics.

James Sicner was commissioned to create the mural in November 1977 by the Ewing Halsell Foundation of San Antonio. Research and work on the theme required six years. Sicner worked and exhibited his art in the United States, Mexico, and Europe. He died in 1992 of complications from AIDS.