Kerry James Marshall

Study for Vignette

2004

Crayon, charcoal, gouache, and pencil on paper

Not on view

Marshall’s Vignette series continues his exploration of the representation of the Black figure in art. The artist works in traditional pictorial genres, explicitly referencing various artistic styles and techniques as a part of his critical investigation of the pretensions of art history. In this study for a painting, a couple is posed in a loving embrace in an idyllic landscape, encircled by large, cartoonish pink hearts, a reference to the frivolity and sentimentality that characterizes 18th-century French Rococo painting. Deploying nostalgia, Marshall meditates on beauty, love, romance, and harmony in the Black experience.

Gallery label from

Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, April 22, 2009–January 4, 2010.

Medium Crayon, charcoal, gouache, and pencil on paper
Dimensions 58 1/4 x 44 1/4" (148 x 112.4 cm)
Credit The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection Gift
Object number 2332.2005
Department Drawings and Prints

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