Description

Two figures stare out a narrow window. The young girl cradles a large doll in her arms, protecting the doll’s chest with her hand. The doll is missing a head, arms, and feet. The larger, second figure is possibly an older brother, or perhaps her mother. The cramped space of this composition, made even more confined by the two horizontal planks across the window frame, creates a feeling of tension and claustrophobia. This powerful drawing distills the anxieties that many African Americans felt in pre-civil rights days.Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009Charles White is one of the leading African American artists of the twentieth century. He is best known for the masterful drawings he created throughout his career. In this very intense composition, two figures stare out of a narrow window. The young girl cradles a large doll in her arms. The doll is missing its head, arms, and feet. The larger second figure is possibly an older brother, or perhaps her mother. The cramped space of this composition, made even more confined by the two horizontal planks across the window frame, creates a feeling of tension and claustrophobia.This drawing is charged with ambiguities and possibilities. What are the figures looking at? What is their relationship? Are they both even looking at the same thing? Why is the doll missing parts of her body? Does her truncated body suggest the limited opportunities the little girl will face? Do the two boards across the window simply...

Record Contributed By

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution