Created by
Biggers, John, American, 1924 - 2001
Date
1968
Medium
oil and acrylic paint and chalk on canvas
Dimensions
H x W x D (frame): 43 1/8 × 37 1/16 × 1 9/16 in. (109.5 × 94.2 × 4 cm)
H x W (unframed): 35 15/16 × 29 15/16 in. (91.3 × 76 cm)
Caption
John Biggers was one of the first African American artists to travel to Africa to study different cultural traditions and practices. He went to the continent in 1957, where he spent six months in West Africa on a UNESCO fellowship. His exposure to various elements of visual arts and culture during this period had a profound and lasting effect on his work, and he considered this trip to be the most significant event of his life.
Ghana Women Dancing reflects Biggers’s ongoing interest in depicting African and African American dance traditions. Painted 11 years after his UNESCO trip, it may reference an occasion when the artist witnessed a community ceremony celebrating the successful harvest of the year’s crops, in which dance played an important role.
Description
This is an oil painting of two dancing women. The women wear duku head ties, blouses, and floor-length skirts. The figure on the left has a skirt that wraps around her, with abstract color patterns in yellow and red tones. She wears a blue sleeveless blouse with a white pattern and an off-white head tie with yellow and red highlights. The woman stands with her body facing the viewer, head bent towards her left and bending forward from the waist. The woman next to her stands with her back to the viewer, wearing an off-white wrap skirt and blue short sleeve blouse with light blue pattern. She bends forward slightly from the waist, her left foot visible beneath her skirt. Behind them is a large green moon against a dark blue sky with white stars and constellations in the background.
Place made
Houston, Harris County, Texas, United States, North and Central America
Cultural Place
Ghana, West Africa, Africa
Classification
Visual Arts
Type
oil paintings
Topic
Africa
African diaspora
Art
Dance
Women
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gerald and Anita Smith
Object number
2012.162.1
Restrictions & Rights
© Artists Rights Society
Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5402828d5-3bfa-4436-be1b-396157c00fa9

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

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