Collection Highlights
Portrait of Six Young Women Seated in a Turkish Corner
Date:
Object Number:
PR.120.1.3.SIX
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
"Carmen Jones"
Object Number:
2001.102
Date:
1944
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Overall: 19 1/2 x 24 in. ( 49.5 x 61 cm )
Marks:
signed at lower right: Corbino
Description:
The five "figures" dancing toward the right in a frieze-like manner and the action in this colorful canvas are painted in a style that walks a tightrope between surrealism and expressionism, as well as abstraction. Their movement was inspired by the musical "Carmen Jones," 1943.
Gallery Label:
Rather than documenting the theatrical production of "Carmen Jones" by Oscar Hammerstein II, the artist took the theme as a springboard to create this dynamic interpretation of the movement and power behind music, dance, and black culture. Based on the 19th century opera, Hammerstein moved the story from a cigarette factory in Spain to a parachute factory in the United States and used black dialect.
Credit Line:
Gift of the Estate of Laurie Vance Johnson and Edward Dudley Hume Johnson
Provenance:
Wedding gift from the artist to Laurie Vance and Edward Dudley Hume Johnson
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
