Jim Dine[no title] 1973

Dine believes that tools provide a 'link with our past, the human past, the hand'. They feature in many of his works, and can be seen as a symbol of artistic creation. There is also an autobiographical resonance, as Dine's family owned a hardware store in Cincinnati. In these prints, the tools are presented as a series of discrete items, as if laid out for analysis and classification.