collage of printed material (advertisements for wedding rings, appliances and gun; music with image of piano keys; stamp of Disney's Snow White; image of bird; images of postage stamps; image of wheel) with painting and drawing on top; pair of blue winged nude female figures in profile at left and right; central bottom image of man's head and shoulders in profile looking toward PL, in red, with a gold guitar with a brown neck sprouting from his head; gold ring at top center; purple curving lines at left and right

%C2%A9 Douglas Bourgeois

Ring Bargain, 2014

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On View in Gallery 369expand_more

In this mixed media collage, Douglas Bourgeois presents a tribute to the American musician, singer, and songwriter Robert Johnson (1911–1938). For aficionados of early blues and jazz music, Johnson looms large in the pantheon of legendary Delta bluesmen. Though he recorded only 29 songs and died at the age of 27, his outsized status resulted from his incomparable prowess with the guitar and his oft repeated claim of having learned to play from the Devil himself. The story—known as the “legend of the crossroads”—tells of Johnson meeting the Devil while thumbing a ride at a dark and lonely crossroads in rural Mississippi. Feeling despondent, he bargains with the Devil and offers to trade his soul for mastery of the guitar. The tale is retold in Johnson’s renowned blues standard Crossroads.

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Details
Title
Ring Bargain
Artist Life
born 1951
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2015.48.3
Provenance
The artist, New Orleans; [Joe Zanatta Contemporary Art, Shawnee, Kansas]; sold to MIA, 2015.
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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collage of printed material (advertisements for wedding rings, appliances and gun; music with image of piano keys; stamp of Disney's Snow White; image of bird; images of postage stamps; image of wheel) with painting and drawing on top; pair of blue winged nude female figures in profile at left and right; central bottom image of man's head and shoulders in profile looking toward PL, in red, with a gold guitar with a brown neck sprouting from his head; gold ring at top center; purple curving lines at left and right

© Douglas Bourgeois

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