Herbert Alexander Gentry, American, 1919 - 2003 Search this
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
H x W x D (framed): 33 3/4 × 27 11/16 × 1 9/16 in. (85.8 × 70.3 × 3.9 cm)
H x W (unframed): 12 5/8 × 10 1/4 in. (32 × 26 cm)
Type:
acrylic paintings
Date:
1993
Caption:
"I work with my subconscious…. The figures come into it, the faces come into my work, that I don’t calculate to be the types that appear, but they are the types that I’ve met in my life. My base is African American also it’s in my paintings the people I’ve met throughout the world, American, African American … who are my friends who actually I love and we’ve done things together so this appears in my work." - Herbert Gentry
The compositional structure of Ceremony is deeply indebted to Herbert Gentry’s connection with COBRA, a loosely organized, avant-garde, mid-20th-century European artist collective. The acronym derives from the artists’ cities: Copenhagen, Brussels, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam. Members were inspired by "primitive" European art forms and children’s art in their quest to form a new aesthetic philosophy that promoted the creation of free-associative art.
Description:
This expressionist painting juxtaposes faces and masks. The frontal facial views and profiles are delineated by swirling brush strokes in shades of red and orange with blue, white, and purple accents. There is a large frontal facial image at the center top margin flanked by two profiles. There is another facial profile at the center right and a fourth abstract face at the bottom center. It is signed on the bottom right by the artist.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ronald and Monique Ollie in memory of Thelma and Bert Ollie
