Fountainhead

The right of the work features New York skyscraper architecture, including the Empire State Building. A scene from Baghdad is on the left side, with the watertower being the main feature. The sky above Baghdad swirls and explodes with tracers, bombs and missiles, as Muhammad rides towards the enemy on his mythical steed, Buraq. Above the New York skyscrapers a Texas cowboy is balancing on his horse, his guns blazing. The etching symbolises the beginning of the Gulf War conflict on the first night of bombing in Baghdad. The title of the etching is based on the novel , 'Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand. The moral theme of the novel concentrates on the 'conflict between creative-social aspiration and the negative forces of materialism, jealousy and conservatism', reflected in the theme of the etchings. This etching also conveys the clash of cultures between the United States (as represented by the skyscrapers and the Texan riding a horse) on the right and Baghdad, Iraq on the left of the etching represented by the watertower and Muhammad on his horse. This work is one of a series of twenty four etchings Gittoes produced during the build up to the First Gulf War in 1990, printed at Studio One Printmaking Workshop, Canberra, 1991.