Noah, The Third Day [Noah's Ark], from the portfolio Prevalence of Ritual

Romare Howard Bearden, American, 1911 - 1988

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1974

Screenprint on wove paper

Edition 17/100

Sheet: 40 1/8 × 32 1/4 in. (101.9 × 81.9 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the William S. Rubin Fund

Art © Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

PR.975.58.5

Printer

Sirocco Screenprinters, Inc., North Haven, Connecticut

Publisher

Cordier & Ekstrom & Ives-Sullivan, New York, New York

Geography

Place Made: United States, North America

Period

20th century

Object Name

Print

Research Area

Print

Not on view

Inscriptions

Numbered, lower left, in graphite: P.R.V 17/100; signed and dated, lower right, in graphite: Romare Bearden / 74

Label

In this work, Romare Bearden depicts the story of Noah’s Art from the Book of Genesis. In the biblical narrative, God instructs Noah to build an art of cypress wood and to gather his sons, their wives, and two of every living creature to board it. Bearden depicts the art at sea with rich blues and purples, creating motion through the churning waves and billowing sails. The central masked figure, in a headdress and gingham clothing, stands atop the ark, releasing a white dove. According to Genesis, Noah released the dove three times in an attempt to find dry land. This work suggests aspects of the black experience, including Middle Passage, in which enslaved Africans were brought across the Atlantic, and the figurative storm of slavery. The work may also reference the spiritual "The Storm is Passing Over," recorded by Methodist minister and gospel music composer Charles Albert Tindley in 1905.

From the 2019 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 97, Black Bodies on the Cross, curated by Victoria McCraven '19, Homma Family Intern

Course History

AAAS 10, Introduction to African American Studies, Trica Keaton, Winter 2020

SART 31/SART 72, Painting II/III, Jennifer Caine, Winter 2020

AAAS 88.19, Contemporary African-American Artists, Michael Chaney, Summer 2021

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 97, Black Bodies on the Cross, Victoria McCraven, Class of 2019, Homma Family Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, November 9, 2019-January 4, 2020.

Publication History

Victoria McCraven, A Space for Dialogue 97, Black Bodies on the Cross, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2020.

Provenance

Cordier and Ekstrom, Inc., New York, New York; sold to present collection, 1975.

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