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Catalog Data

Artist:
Eldzier Cortor, born Richmond, VA 1916-died Seaford, NY 2015  Search this
Medium:
oil on canvas
Dimensions:
46 1/4 x 22 in. (117.5 x 55.8 cm.)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1942-1943
Exhibition Label:
Painted in the early years of World War II, Southern Gate offers, a surreal, dreamlike picture of a solemn young woman standing in a space defined by a once-elegant wrought-iron fence, a river, and the steeple of a distant church. They are evocative elements -- the river is a traditional metaphor for passage, the fence an emblem of both confinement and of safe haven from the outside world. Wearing a necklace adorned with a cross and with a bird perched on her shoulder, she invites associations with the Virgin Mary; but Cortor's figure is as physical as she is innocent, an Edenic Eve who stands outside the sacred garden.
African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012
Topic:
Figure female\nude  Search this
African American  Search this
Figure female\knee length  Search this
Architecture Exterior\detail\gate  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson, Martha Jackson Memorial Collection
Object number:
1980.137.19
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk7bb2cff27-6e2c-4624-b0c8-ebc70f134a0a
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1980.137.19