About this artwork
Moloch is a Biblical deity associated with human sacrifice. Used in art and literature, the name evokes the idea of an almighty power that demands a terrible price. McCance depicts Moloch as a great machine that consumes people, with mask-like faces trapped within the cogs and pistons. His use of flattened forms and white ink on a black background creates a menacing atmosphere. The image suggests the artist’s discomfort at the dominant role of the machine in modern society.
Updated February 2024
-
artist:William McCance (1894 - 1970) Scottish
-
title:Moloch of the Machine (or Machine Gods)
-
date created:About 1928
-
materials:Linocut (white ink) on black paper
-
measurements:10.70 x 15.00 cm (paper 18.20 x 18.90 cm)
-
object type:
-
credit line:Purchased 1992
-
accession number:GMA 3615
-
gallery:
-
subject:
William McCance
William McCance
McCance was born in a suburb of Glasgow and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1911-5. In 1918 he married a fellow student, Agnes Miller Parker (one of Britain's leading wood-engravers), and they moved to London two years later. In the early 1920s McCance developed a machine-inspired, near...