NMAAHC Collections Search

Spring--Delightful Flower Bed

Created by: Alma Thomas, American, 1891 - 1978

Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: H x W (Painting): 39 1/2 × 39 1/2 in. (100.3 × 100.3 cm)

Type: oil paintings

Place made: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1967

Description: This is an abstract and colorful mosaic-style painting with concentric circles filling a square space with a light green background. Each circle is composed of rectangular shapes of similar color and size, but each circle varies in color and width.

Topic: African American; Art; Local and regional; Nature; Resistance

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of William J. and Brenda L. Galloway and Family

Object number: 2015.151

Restrictions & Rights: © Charles Thomas Lewis

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Saint John The Baptist

Created by: Wiley, Kehinde, American, born 1977
Subject of: Fletcher, Craig

Medium: gold leaf and oil paint on wood panel with metal
Dimensions: H x W x D (overall- framed): 40 × 24 × 4 1/8 in. (101.6 × 61 × 10.5 cm)

Type: oil paintings; portraits; mixed media

Date: 2014

Description: Mixed media painting of Craig Fletcher based on Leonardo da Vinci’s Saint John the Baptist. The work has 22-karat gold leaf decoration. The painting shows Fletcher in the center. He is wearing a black t-shirt with blue letters and jeans. He is visible from the torso up with his head titled to the side. Fletcher’s right arm is raised in front of his chest and his other hand is resting on his hip. There are flowers in various colors with green stems around the edges and over top of the central figure. The oil painting has an architectural frame with columns and a raised base. [CRAIG FLETCHER] is painted stylistically in red below the painting. The painting is inset in a detailed architecture frame. There is a painted red star in the upper center of the frame. The wood panel is visible on the reverse and there is a label from the Sean Kelly Gallery with artwork information. There is metal hardware, including D-rings, screws, and brackets, on the reverse.The artist signed and dated the work on the back.

Topic: African American; Art; Clothing and dress; Identity; Religion

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of The Martin Z. Margulies Foundation, Miami, FL

Object number: 2017.105

Restrictions & Rights: © Kehinde Wiley. Permission required for use.

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Portfolio/Series: Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Walking

Created by: Alston, Charles Henry, American, 1907 - 1977

Medium: oil paint and gesso on canvas
Dimensions: H x W: 48 3/8 x 64 3/4 x 1 1/4 in. (122.9 x 164.5 x 3.2 cm)

Type: oil paintings

Place depicted: Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1958

Caption: Walking recalls the bus boycotts in the 1950s and anticipated the civil rights marches of the 1960s. The work not only depicts the spirit and conviction of the civil rights protests, it also references the significant role of women and youth in the movement.
Description: This colorful, modernist painting depicts women and a young girl walking in front of a long line of others. The figures move out of a shadowy background on the left, towards the light, emanating from the upper right corner. The line appears to be moving forwards, out of the picture plane. The women leading the line step forward strongly to the viewer's right; their leg movements are delineated by the columns of strongly contrasting light and shadow of their long skirts. The leading woman's face is upturned towards the light. Next to and slightly behind her a second female figure, with forward facing gaze, has her right arm around a much smaller female figure. This child figure moves with the line but turns her head to face the viewer, hands folded at the waist. Directly behind them is another female figure carrying a swathed infant. There are several isolated individuals outside the orderly grouping of the line. The line is the focus of their gaze; the nearest individual turns her back on the viewer as she focuses on the line.

Topic: African American; Activism; Art; Children; Civil Rights; Resistance; United States--History--1953-1961; Women

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Sydney Smith Gordon

Object number: 2007.2

Restrictions & Rights: © Charles Alston Estate

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Increase Risk with Emotional Faith

Created by: Cole, Kevin E., American, born 1960

Medium: mixed media on wood
Dimensions: H x W: 56 3/4 x 66 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (144.1 x 168.9 x 26.7 cm); Storage: 55.9 x 170.2 x 200.7 cm, 136.1 kg (22 x 67 x 79 in., 300 lb.)

Type: sculpture

Date: 2008

Description: Three dimensional sculpture of necktie shapes painted, etched, bent and curled in multiple directions. The various shapes are painted with juxtaposing bold colors and patterns such as stripes, circles, splashes and geometric shapes. Multiple layers of acrylic paint are used to add texture to the geometric designs. The piece is made using scattered debris left by Hurricane Katrina.

Topic: African American; Art; Civil Rights; Race discrimination; Violence

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Greg and Yolanda Head

Object number: 2009.12

Restrictions & Rights: © Kevin Cole

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Portfolio/Series: Fragment of Frozen Sound Series
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Robbing the Eagle's Nest

Created by: Duncanson, Robert S., American, 1821 - 1872

Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: H x W: 35 1/2 x 45 1/2 in. (90.2 x 115.6 cm); Storage: 142.2 x 167.6 x 33 cm (56 x 66 x 13 in.)

Type: oil paintings

Place made: Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1856

Description: A view of the Ohio River Valley done in the American Romantic style of the Hudson River School. The painting features an eagle soaring by the face of a cliff. The inclusion of figures is rare in Duncanson's work.

Topic: African American; Art; United States--History--1815-1861

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.13ab

Restrictions & Rights: Public Domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Portrait of John Westwood

Created by: Johnson, Joshua, American, ca. 1763 - after 1832
Subject of: Westwood, John, American

Medium: oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Framed: 38 1/4 x 33 x 2 1/2 in. (97.2 x 83.8 x 6.4 cm); H x W (Canvas): 30 1/4 x 25 1/4 in. (76.8 x 64.1 cm)

Type: oil paintings; portraits

Place made: Baltimore, Maryland, United States, North and Central America

Date: ca. 1807-1808

Description: An oil painting portrait of John Westwood, painted in conventional English portrait style of formal, bust-length pose and arranged backdrop. It depicts a half-length male figure wearing a brown coat with silver buttons and white waistcoat against a dark background. The figure is clean shaven with short brown hair, and is encircled by a faux oval frame. Painted as part of the composition, the oval frame is slightly lighter in color than the background.

Topic: African American; American South; Art; Free communities of color; Men; United States--History--1783-1815

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2010.25ab

Restrictions & Rights: Public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts; Slavery and Freedom Objects
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Urban Mask

Created by: Booker, Chakaia, American, born 1953

Medium: rubber with wire
Dimensions: 34 x 23 x 15 1/2 in. (86.4 x 58.4 x 39.4 cm)

Type: sculpture

Date: 2001

Description: This is an abstract, expressionist sculpture composed of rubber from old tires. The tires have been cut into strips and shapes, looped and curled around each other in a series of arcs.

Topic: African American; Art

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2010.48

Restrictions & Rights: © Chakaia Booker. Permission required for use.

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Untitled (French Landscape)

Created by: Harper, William A., American, 1873 - 1910

Medium: oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: H x W: 16 3/8 x 20 1/4 x 1 in. (41.6 x 51.4 x 2.5 cm); Framed: 23 x 27 x 2 in. (58.4 x 68.6 x 5.1 cm)

Type: oil paintings

Date: 1905

Description: This landscape painting depicts trees in the right and left foreground. Beyond, a field is visible under a blue sky with wispy clouds.

Topic: African American; Art; Nature

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2010.51.1ab

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Untitled

Created by: Dial, Thornton Sr., American, 1928 - 2016

Medium: cloth, rope, carpeting and paint on plywood
Dimensions: 45 x 45 x 1 1/2 in. (114.3 x 114.3 x 3.8 cm)

Type: assemblages (sculpture)

Place made: Bessemer, Jefferson County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1990-1999

Description: This assemblage depicts a striped animal with a long tail. The creature's two front legs are splayed apart, with one stretched out in front and one extended underneath the stomach. The animal's tail is upraised as well as its head, on an elongated neck. Although the animal is viewed from the side, both eyes are on the same visual plane and are visible to the viewer. The animal is barely contained by the square plywood backing; the movement of the limbs is constrained by the borders of the work. The animal is covered in black and white stripes and is outlined in brown. Surrounding the animal is a field of shadowy greens, blacks and browns.

Topic: African American; Art; Race discrimination; Race relations

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Calynne and Lou Hill

Object number: 2010.64.1

Restrictions & Rights: ©1990s Thornton Dial, Sr.. Permission required for use.

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Dixie Café

Created by: Lawrence, Jacob, American, 1917 - 2000

Medium: gouache on paper (fiber product)
Dimensions: H x W: 16 15/16 x 22 in. (43 x 55.9 cm)

Type: gouaches

Date: 1948

Description: A depiction of a segregated café rendered in black and white, with black diners seated in the "Colored" section on the left, and white diners seated in the "White" section on the right. The drawing is signed and dated by the artist on the front.

Topic: African American; American South; Art; Segregation

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Margaret and Michael Asch

Object number: 2010.73

Restrictions & Rights: © 2015 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Shango's Helper

Created by: Coleman, Floyd, American, born 1939

Medium: acrylic paint on canvas
Dimensions: H x W: 52 × 64 × 1 1/4 in. (132.1 × 162.6 × 3.2 cm)

Type: acrylic paintings

Date: 1972

Description: This is an acrylic painting that depicts an abstract interpretation of a female figure. Done against a black background the shape is located primarily in the bottom left quadrant and partial top left quadrant of the painting. The bottom left features a wide swath of orange, topped with several textured shapes in shades of yellow, light brown, and grey. Shapes are clearly delineated by borders done in darker shades or alternate colors. Some shapes are patterned with narrow stripes and brush strokes. Above the figure is a grey rectangle outlined in green. Within the rectangle is a darker grey shape roughly resembling the head of an axe. There is a green horizontal line in the bottom right quadrant of the painting.

Topic: African American; Africa; Art; Religion

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Kera and Bennie F. Johnson

Object number: 2011.102.2

Restrictions & Rights: © 1972 Floyd Coleman

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Ceremonial Object

Created by: Stout, Renée, American, born 1958

Medium: mixed media : horn , cloth , bone , husk , twine , pigment , latex paint , shell
Dimensions: 11 × 14 × 3 1/2 in. (27.9 × 35.6 × 8.9 cm)

Type: sculptures; mixed media

Place made: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1990

Description: This mixed media sculpture consists of an animal horn featuring twine wrapped around the wide end with colorful and iridescent rectangular shell beads hanging from the twine. The wide end of the horn is covered by cloth. The cloth is held in place by the twine. Hanging from the twine are six beaded strings consisting of brown, blue, red, and yellow glass beads and long, larger carved bone beads and skulls that culminate in a large ball made from corn husks, covered with a black paint and green powder pigment. The artist has signed the object in white "RENEE / STOUT 1990" as well as an artist's mark consisting of an "R" inside a square with a small "S" between the legs of the "R."

Topic: African American; Africa; African diaspora; Art; Local and regional; Religion

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Larry and Evelyn Kamanitz

Object number: 2011.142

Restrictions & Rights: © Renée Stout

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

April 4

Created by: Gilliam, Sam, American, born 1933
Subject of: Dr. King, Martin Luther Jr., American, 1929 - 1968

Medium: acrylic paint on canvas
Dimensions: Framed: 73 7/8 x 49 7/8 x 2 5/16 in. (187.6 x 126.7 x 5.9 cm); H x W: 72 x 78 in. (182.9 x 198.1 cm)

Type: acrylic paintings

Place made: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1972

Description: This is an abstract painting from the Martin Luther King series. Done with a thick layer of color, the painting field is made up of splashes of color in a variety of shades of pinks, yellows, blues, greens, and reds. There is a larger, more continuous field of blue at the bottom left hand side of the painting. There is a thin stripe of the same splash pattern down the center running from top to bottom.

Topic: African American; Art; Civil Rights; Local and regional

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2011.37.1

Restrictions & Rights: © Sam Gilliam. Permission required for use.

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Portfolio/Series: Martin Luther King Series
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Medicine and Transportation

Created by: Streat, Thelma Johnson, American, 1912 - 1959

Medium: tempera and oil paint on paper on mounting board
Dimensions: H x W: 15 7/16 x 15 11/16 in. (39.2 x 39.8 cm)

Type: studies (visual works); paintings

Date: 1942-1944

Description: This mural study includes depictions of various transportation and scientific industries. It is divided into two fields, an upper and a lower. The upper depicts examples of transportation technology, including a railroad engine, a propeller plane, a blimp, and a combustible engine. They are painted using broad streaks of color, contrasted with blocks of black and white. The lower field depicts a scene of science and technology, with African-American figures at work in a laboratory, a metal refinery, and a mine, set against a background of industrial scenes.

Topic: African American; Art; Education; Labor; Medicine; Science; Technology; Transportation; United States--History--1933-1945

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2012.13.1

Restrictions & Rights: © Thelma Johnson Streat Project

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Arty (Centerpiece)

Created by: Stevens, Nelson, American, born 1938
Subject of: Turner Crawford, Arlene, American; AfriCOBRA, founded 1968

Medium: acrylic paint on canvas
Dimensions: H x W x D: 50 × 50 × 2 in. (127 × 127 × 5.1 cm)

Type: acrylic paintings; portraits

Date: 1970

Description: This is an abstract acrylic painting depicting a woman from the neck up. Done in a color palette of red, orange, blue, and purple, the woman's form is made up of clusters of rounded and abstract pools of color. Viewed slightly from below, she faces forward and gazes upward.

Topic: African American; Activism; Art; Identity; Professional organizations; Religion; Women

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2016.73

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Black Jesus

Created by: Hunter, Clementine, American, ca. 1886 - 1988

Medium: oil on canvas board
Dimensions: H x W (Canvas): 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm); Frame: 16 1/2 x 13 1/2 x 3/16 in. (41.9 x 34.3 x 0.5 cm)

Type: paintings

Place made: Natchitoches, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America

Date: ca. 1985

Description: This oil painting depicts a human figure with arms extended horizontally. The figure wears a long loose dark red/brown robe that flares outward towards the hem. The figure's head, an oval with two white spots for eyes as the only defined features, has short lines radiating outward from the scalp. There are two small round red spots over the figure's chest. At the ends of each horizontal arm is a larger oblong of paint. Each oblong has a streak of red trickling from the center. At the bottom of the figure are two short triangular brush strokes. Each triangular shape has a red streak running through the middle. To the right of the figure are two short vertical lines crossed by three horizontal short lines. They are done in a dark reddish-brown color. Pencil lines are visible underneath the brush strokes. There is a dark grey blue line of color across the top of the painting, and a green line across the bottom.

Topic: African American; Art; Religion

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Henley A. Hunter, Kathey N. Hunter, and Anne Kathryn Hunter

Object number: 2012.168

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Untitled

Created by: Lee-Smith, Hughie, American, 1915 - 1999
Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men

Medium: oil paint on Masonite (TM)
Dimensions: H x W (framed): 30 7/8 x 38 7/8 x 2 in. (78.4 x 98.7 x 5.1 cm)

Type: oil paintings

Place made: New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1959 - 1960

Description: This painting depicts an anonymous African American man walking away from the viewer. Wearing a pink shirt and grey pants, he walks with head bowed, yet his shoulders straight. The landscape around him is barren and rocky, with a single upright pole standing in the foreground. There is a dead log on the ground to the right. Directly ahead of the man is a field of stones, beyond which is a bleak landscape of rocky bluffs under a grey sky. There are three trees in the distance.

Topic: African American; Art; Men; Race discrimination; Segregation

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2012.45ab

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Separate But Equal: Apartheid

Created by: Pindell, Howardena Doreen, American, born 1943

Medium: acrylic, pressure-sensitive tape, rhinestone, wood, metal, silicone, zircon, canvas
Dimensions: 21 1/2 x 24 x 3 in. (54.6 x 61 x 7.6 cm)

Type: multimedia works

Place depicted: South Africa, Africa

Date: 1987

Description: A mixed media artwork referencing apartheid in South Africa. The work features a black and white canvas studded with rhinestones; a white strip forms a horizontal plane atop a black field. The canvas has been ripped and then sewn together, leaving a diagonal gash along the right side of the work. Words have been superimposed on the black field using black vinyl tape: Apartheid, Camps, The Mines, Disappearances, Pass Book, Endless Labor, 0 Votes, Detention, Interrogation, SOWETO. Words have been added to the white part of the canvas using white vinyl tape: Indifference, Separate State, Cruel, Profit, The Bomb, Barbaric, Killers, Comfort, Parasitic, Apartheid. There is a wooden frame around the plaster with nails protruding out from it.

Topic: African American; Africa; Art; Politics (Practical); Segregation

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2012.80

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Transformation "Blue Horse"

Created by: Adams, B.K., American, born 1972

Medium: mixed media: fiberglass, artificial resin, burlap, foil, metal, acrylic paint, wood, polyurethane foam, imitation fur, vinyl and yarn
Dimensions: H x W x D: 87 × 34 1/2 × 84 in. (221 × 87.6 × 213.4 cm); Overall with Weight: 243 lb. (110.2 kg)

Type: sculpture; mixed media

Place made: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America

Date: 2009

Description: The work consists of a life-size blue fiberglass sculpture of a horse. The horse's left flank exposes a cavity filled with six (6) yellow bicycle wheels. Attached to the horse's back are a fuchsia pink bicycle seat and handlebars, the handlebars attached at the withers, and the bicycle seat attached at the hindquarters. Painted onto the horse's left hindquarter in white is the number [3], and the horse's left back leg is painted gold. Faux fur is attached to the sculpture in several places, including at the top of the horse's head, the tail, and the proper right front and rear fetlocks, just above the hooves. Black yarn is wrapped around the proper left front and rear fetlocks. The artwork is attached to a self base that has four (4) double wheels, one at each corner.

Topic: African American; Art; Local and regional; Transportation

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of B.K. Adams - I AM ART

Object number: 2012.89

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Big Egg

Created by: Clark, Ed, American, born 1926

Medium: acrylic paint on canvas
Dimensions: H x W: 64 1/2 x 83 in. (163.8 x 210.8 cm)

Type: acrylic paintings

Place made: Vétheuil, Val-d'Oise, France

Date: 1968

Description: Oval-shaped abstract acrylic painting with large horizontal brush strokes and three fields of color. The canvas, shaped like a horizontal ellipse, is covered by three main fields of color: orange-red, at top, blue-green in the middle, and pink at bottom. There is a single streak of white partway across the orange field. Encroaching onto the orange field is a spray and spatter of blue-green paint. There is a darker orange shadow behind the spray. The blue-green field brightens gradually to a more blue-based color as it nears the bottom. At the very bottom of the painting is a narrow streak of pink.

Topic: African American; Art; Men

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2013.125ab

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Portfolio/Series: Vétheuil Series
Classification: Visual Arts
Exhibition: Visual Art and the American Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

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