Foote’s Gun-Boats Ascending to Attack Fort Henry
Offset lithography with silkscreen on Somerset textured paper
Image size: 22 x 33 1/2 inches (55.9 x 85.1 cm)
Paper size: 53 x 39 inches (134.6 x 99.1 cm)
Edition of 35
Signed, dated and numbered lower right in graphite
(Inventory #29494)
“Foote’s Gun-Boats Ascending to Attack Fort Henry from Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)”, utilizes imagery of the 19th century “Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War” and, in Walker’s titling, “annotates” the images with her own additions. These additions create a more rounded picture of who was involved in this civil war-era scenario. The use of simplified, stereotypical silhouettes further complicates the scenario, as they are forms that do not have any detail and thus don’t accurately represent the individual (thus adding cartoonish, derogatory illustrations to a pre-existing and equally inaccurate representation of what happened in the Civil War).
Information Request
Offset lithography with silkscreen on Somerset textured paper
Image size: 22 x 33 1/2 inches (55.9 x 85.1 cm)
Paper size: 53 x 39 inches (134.6 x 99.1 cm)
Edition of 35
Signed, dated and numbered lower right in graphite
(Inventory #29494)
“Foote’s Gun-Boats Ascending to Attack Fort Henry from Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)”, utilizes imagery of the 19th century “Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War” and, in Walker’s titling, “annotates” the images with her own additions. These additions create a more rounded picture of who was involved in this civil war-era scenario. The use of simplified, stereotypical silhouettes further complicates the scenario, as they are forms that do not have any detail and thus don’t accurately represent the individual (thus adding cartoonish, derogatory illustrations to a pre-existing and equally inaccurate representation of what happened in the Civil War).
Selected Works
The Emancipation Approximation (scene #15)
Edition of 25: full set is 27 images in an edition of 20 and then 5 were from the set sold individually in an edition of 25.
Image/paper size: 44 x 34 inches (111.8 x 86.4 cm)
Signed, numbered, and dated on reverse in graphite
(Inventory #32278)
Information Request
Edition of 25: full set is 27 images in an edition of 20 and then 5 were from the set sold individually in an edition of 25.
Image/paper size: 44 x 34 inches (111.8 x 86.4 cm)
Signed, numbered, and dated on reverse in graphite
(Inventory #32278)
Edition of 25: full set is 27 images in an edition of 20 and then 5 were from the set sold individually in an edition of 25.
Image/paper size: 44 x 34 inches (111.8 x 86.4 cm)
Signed, numbered, and dated on reverse in graphite
(Inventory #32278)
Edition of 25: full set is 27 images in an edition of 20 and then 5 were from the set sold individually in an edition of 25.
Image/paper size: 44 x 34 inches (111.8 x 86.4 cm)
Signed, numbered, and dated on reverse in graphite
(Inventory #32278)
Li’l Patch of Woods
Edition of 35
Image size: 12 x 8 7/8 inches (30.5 x 22.5 cm)
Paper size: 18 x 15 inches (45.7 x 38.1 cm)
Initialed and dated lower right, numbered lower left in graphite
(Inventory #32353)
Kara Walker’s “Li’l Patch of Woods,” like many of her works is ambiguous, open-ended, and full of friction. Walker uses stereotypes to illuminate hidden realities, both clear and confused. The reception of Walker’s work has been just as full of stereotypes and confusion.
• One museum describes that “‘Li’l Patch of Woods; depicts an enigmatic birthing figure being discovered by Civil War troops (it is unclear if they are Union or Confederate troops, and any narrative remains murky and inexplicable).”
• Another states that this work is “set against the backdrop of the American South during the Civil War era.”
• A third states, “This sensitively drawn and etched print shows a desperate young woman who has run away from the slave owner. Forced by her birth pangs to pause in her flight from the armed searchers in the background, she looks back in fear as they pass close to her hiding place. The head of a child who emerges from her body takes the form of West African sculptures depicting birth, a theme commonly shown in Igbo culture but rarely, if ever, depicted in Western art.”
If one looks closely at the imagery, it is hard to entirely discern the age, gender and race of the birthing figure. Small elements give strong hints, but nothing is conclusive. The same holds true for the face of the “baby.” What is most visible is the compromised and vulnerable position the figure giving birth is in, compared to the armed assortment of buttoned-up figures carrying assorted weapons. Within the picture plane, there’s nothing definitive that shows it’s in the South or during the Civil War. Strength and vulnerability, agency and reception, these are some of the themes in Walker’s work that utilize not only stereotypical imagery, but also the inherent murkiness of using etching (most often associated with European masters such as Rembrandt [further referencing another historical era]) to an elegant surface for such a rural, rugged and tough scenario.
Information Request
Edition of 35
Image size: 12 x 8 7/8 inches (30.5 x 22.5 cm)
Paper size: 18 x 15 inches (45.7 x 38.1 cm)
Initialed and dated lower right, numbered lower left in graphite
(Inventory #32353)
Kara Walker’s “Li’l Patch of Woods,” like many of her works is ambiguous, open-ended, and full of friction. Walker uses stereotypes to illuminate hidden realities, both clear and confused. The reception of Walker’s work has been just as full of stereotypes and confusion.
• One museum describes that “‘Li’l Patch of Woods; depicts an enigmatic birthing figure being discovered by Civil War troops (it is unclear if they are Union or Confederate troops, and any narrative remains murky and inexplicable).”
• Another states that this work is “set against the backdrop of the American South during the Civil War era.”
• A third states, “This sensitively drawn and etched print shows a desperate young woman who has run away from the slave owner. Forced by her birth pangs to pause in her flight from the armed searchers in the background, she looks back in fear as they pass close to her hiding place. The head of a child who emerges from her body takes the form of West African sculptures depicting birth, a theme commonly shown in Igbo culture but rarely, if ever, depicted in Western art.”
If one looks closely at the imagery, it is hard to entirely discern the age, gender and race of the birthing figure. Small elements give strong hints, but nothing is conclusive. The same holds true for the face of the “baby.” What is most visible is the compromised and vulnerable position the figure giving birth is in, compared to the armed assortment of buttoned-up figures carrying assorted weapons. Within the picture plane, there’s nothing definitive that shows it’s in the South or during the Civil War. Strength and vulnerability, agency and reception, these are some of the themes in Walker’s work that utilize not only stereotypical imagery, but also the inherent murkiness of using etching (most often associated with European masters such as Rembrandt [further referencing another historical era]) to an elegant surface for such a rural, rugged and tough scenario.