- Created by
- Young, Purvis, American, 1943 - 2010
- Date
- 1990s
- Medium
- acrylic paint on fiberboard
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 64 11/16 × 47 3/8 × 1/4 in. (164.3 × 120.4 × 0.6 cm)
- Caption
- Purvis Young was a long-time resident of Overtown, a black neighborhood in Miami, Florida. He began drawing while in jail, after a vision led him to embrace the idea of becoming an artist. He educated himself about the history of art, and focused on a daily routine of making art, much of it on public surfaces and walls.
- In Untitled, as in much of Young’s work, angels and horses are prominently featured; angels represent goodness and horses represent freedom. Just as he had found salvation through art, he hoped his own art would bring harmony to his neighborhood, and to the world.
- Description
- This painting depicts a large mass of abstract human and animal figures rendered in simple brushstrokes. Human figures and horses are aligned in rows, with a burial ground of headstones and crosses through the center. The figures are formed in a series of curving line brushstrokes of black, grey, yellow, and red against a red and yellow background. On the far side of the burial ground, figures on horseback surround an animal figure resembling a buffalo. In the foreground are four dark forms resembling hte back of heads, necks, and shoulders. These heads are surrounded by yellow halos. The top left corner of the fiberboard is missing.
- Place made
- Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Type
- paintings
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Calynne and Lou Hill
- Object number
- 2010.64.2
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Larry T. Clemons / Gallery 721 / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.