Untitled (Woman and Child)

Date: ca. 1950

Artist: Selma Burke, born Mooresville, NC 1900-died New Hope, PA 1995

Luce Center Label: In Selma Burke's Untitled (Woman and Child) the figures appear to materialize out of the wood, and the woman's arm and child's back merge to represent the closeness of their bond. Burke followed an African practice of selecting carving materials for their symbolic value, and chose to sculpt this scene in red oak, which embodies the strength of the figures' relationship.
Luce Object Quote: "Art didn't start black or white, it just started. There have been too many labels in this world: . . . Negro, Colored, Black, African-American . . . Why do we still label people with everything except 'children of God'?" Selma Burke, quoted in Schwalb, "Without Color," ARTnews, September 1994

Topic: Figure group\female and child

See more items in: Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department: Painting and Sculpture

Credit Line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John A. Sakal and Terry L. Bengel in honor of Dr. Paul Albert Chew, Founding Director of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Greensburg, Pennsylvania

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Object number: 2004.20

Type: Sculpture

Restrictions & Rights: Usage conditions apply

Medium: painted red oak
Dimensions: overall: 47 1/8 x 12 3/4 x 11 3/4 in. (119.6 x 32.3 x 29.8 cm)

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