John August Swanson

Most depictions of the Last Supper in Western art present two themes. Jesus tells his disciples one of them will betray him. Jesus offers bread and wine as his body and blood, instituting the practice of Holy Communion. In this 41-color serigraph of the scene, California Graphic Artist John August Swanson offers a third variation, recalling the meal the First Christians shared when they commemorated the Lord's Supper--known as the Agape feast, from the Greek word for "love"--a theme found among Early Christian images on the walls of the Roman Catacombs. Bread and wine are present on the table in this brilliantly colored print, reminding us of the Eucharist, but Swanson's version of the Last Supper is not so much about sacred ritual as it is about the bonds that form when we share a common meal. Judas the Betrayer has not been singled out here by his money bag, grasping hand, red hair, or black halo as in traditional studies of the Last Supper. Nor is there a social "pecking order" with a favored few getting the best seats. The group is gathered at a round table. We can recognize Christ by his halo, but he is both host and dinner companion. Swanson presents a vision of the community formed whenever bread is broken with others--and it extends well beyond these thirteen dinner companions to include those whose labor has brought food to the table, represented in 78 vignettes framing the central scene. In describing his serigraph, Swanson quotes a fitting phrase from French Writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery: "The flavor of bread shared has no equal." (John Kohan)