About this artwork
Based on The Tragic Prelude, Curry’s mural for the rotunda of the Kansas State Capitol, this lithograph portrays the abolitionist martyr John Brown, best remembered for his failed attempt to incite a slave uprising by raiding a military arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, in 1859. In Curry’s image Brown’s arms are outstretched, and he towers above a crouched African American to his left. Curry modeled Brown’s head on Michelangelo Buonarotti’s sculpture of Moses, linking Brown’s abolitionist zeal to religious fervor. In the distance, a tornado and wildfires foreshadow the American Civil War.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Prints and Drawings
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Artist
- John Steuart Curry
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Title
- John Brown
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Place
- United States (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1939
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Medium
- Lithograph in black on cream wove paper
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Dimensions
- Plate: 37.9 × 27.6 cm (14 15/16 × 10 7/8 in.); Sheet: 46.7 × 33.7 cm (18 7/16 × 13 5/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by Bryan S. Reid, Jr.
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Reference Number
- 1982.1500
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
