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(#110) KARL KARDEL CO. (BUILDING):

Edition of 1715 of which 300 are signed 1-300, 26 copies are signed A-Z as artist's proofs, and three sets are signed as progressives.

July 19, 1984 11 colors 17-1/8" x 24"

Client: Karl Kardel, Karl Kardel Company, 4926 East 12th Street, Oakland CA 94601. Telephone (510) 261-4150 A-Z: artist's own use Progressives: one set to Karl Kardel

The Children of Israel were held for long years as a subject people to the Egyptians. When Moses asked if they could take a three-day's walk into the desert in order to worship God, Pharaoh responded by telling them that if they didn't have enough work to do, he could easily find them more. Apparently the Children of Israel were employed in making bricks, and the custom of the time was to provide straw for the brickmakers.

So, Pharaoh ordered that they gather their own straw for bricks, and he made it difficult for them to do even that, and beat them when they failed. From this we get the phrase, "bricks without straw," which means to attempt a task without having the necessary materials supplied. The Israelites gathered stubble, or nothing, and did not manage to fill their quota of bricks, though they tried.

The Israelites had a hard time of it, but the point to keep in mind is that sun-dried bricks made without straw are no good. I don't know what the Pharaoh built with those bricks, but whatever it was, it fell down.