A Warm Summer Evening in 1863
2008
175.0 x 248.0 cm
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
In this tapestry, Kara Walker reproduces an etching from an 1863 issue of the newspaper Harper’s Weekly that documents the burning of a “colored orphan asylum.” Infuriated by newly imposed draft requirements during the Civil War, a mob of New Yorkers took to the streets, attacking both black and white innocents. To drive home the emotional reality of this atrocity, Walker superimposed the silhouette of a hanged black woman over this scene, a shocking image that grabs our attention.Walker’s silhouette of the hanged woman is an example of her ongoing interest in the traditional medium of cut-paper silhouettes. Before the widespread popularity of photography in early nineteenth-century America, paper cutouts of profiles served as a popular medium for portraiture. For the artist, this collision of popular prints and cutouts with the more elite tradition of woven tapestries creates tension: “I liked the irony of transferring this lowly craft into a medium once used for kings and princes,” Walker said.
Harry Walker (1947 –)
Esplora le affascinanti opere di Harry Walker (n. 1947), pittore francese noto per il suo 'Televisionismo' e le interpretazioni uniche di media, storia e temi sociali. Scopri l'arte originale online!
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville, Stati Uniti d'America)
Bentonville è una città degli Stati Uniti d'America, capitale della contea di Benton nello Stato dell'Arkansas. È famosa per essere la sede legale di Walmart.
Informazioni sull'opera
- Titolo: A Warm Summer Evening in 1863
- Artista: Harry Walker
- Anno: 2008
- Dimensioni originali: 175.0 x 248.0 cm
- Formato: Landscape
- Stato del copyright: Soggetti a copyright
- Dove vederlo: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
- Colore principale: Putty
- Intensità del colore: Monochromatic