%C2%A9 Kerry James Marshall
Untitled (Handsome Young Man), 2010
Etching and aquatintexpand_more
Gift of Mary and Bob Merskyexpand_more 2016.110.4
Not on Viewexpand_more
Kerry James Marshall is internationally acclaimed for his often provocative explorations of black identity and experience. His race-conscious art challenges the historical exclusion of African Americans in Western art history by depicting “unequivocally, emphatically Black” characters. Produced in 2010, this dignified portrait demonstrates Marshall’s effort to expand the genre of portraiture beyond its prejudicial legacy.
“The way we understand art history, the way we encounter the idea of art in museums seemed incomplete to me. And a lot of that incompleteness was around the idea of what mastery was and masterpieces in the world of painting were. And so I, like everybody else, I only know what art is because people who wrote art history books and who put pictures in museums told me that’s what it was supposed to be. And when I wasn’t seeing a lot of pictures of Black folks in those paintings that everybody was supposed to be looking at, that was a problem for me. And resolving that problem became a paramount objective.”
—Kerry James Marshall, 2017
Details
- Title
- Untitled (Handsome Young Man)
- Artist Life
- born 1955
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2016.110.4
- Provenance
- Paulson Bott Press, Berkeley, Calif. (publisher), sold to Mersky; Robert B. Mersky, Minneapolis; given to MIA, 2016.
- Curator Approved
This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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© Kerry James Marshall