red-headed girl wearing a red stocking hat, black and yellow buffalo checkered coat, and blue tights at right, holding flowers in hands and basket of books and paint brushes on arm; large brown and black wolf lies on ground around girl; girl and wolf are face to face, with wolf's mouth slightly open; gray and brown misty forest in background, with silhouettes of more wolves; tan building on far right with black bird sitting on open window; tree trunk, rocks, fossils, and other forest debris on ground in foreground

%C2%A9 Gina Litherland

Little Red Cap, 2011

Gina Litherlandexpand_more

Oil on masoniteexpand_more

Gift of Helen and Sam Zellexpand_more  2019.98

Not on Viewexpand_more

Gina Litherland frequently explores the inner lives of women in her paintings, often inspired by their roles in fairy tales. Here, she imaginatively transforms the story of Little Red Riding Hood, so that the wolf and Red Riding Hood appear as companions rather than two beings destined for violence. For Litherland, the attraction of the Little Red Riding Hood story is its capacity to hold multiple meanings at once—some simple, some complex. “It can easily be reduced to a warning to children to not talk to strangers,” she writes, but the story also contrasts the affection many people have for wilderness today with the fear it once inspired. Litherland sees common cause between animals and women, as both have been exploited and abused throughout history.

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Details
Title
Little Red Cap
Artist Life
born 1955
Role
Artist
Accession Number
2019.98
Curator Approved

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red-headed girl wearing a red stocking hat, black and yellow buffalo checkered coat, and blue tights at right, holding flowers in hands and basket of books and paint brushes on arm; large brown and black wolf lies on ground around girl; girl and wolf are face to face, with wolf's mouth slightly open; gray and brown misty forest in background, with silhouettes of more wolves; tan building on far right with black bird sitting on open window; tree trunk, rocks, fossils, and other forest debris on ground in foreground

© Gina Litherland

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