God's Gift to Man

Object Label
Bessie Harvey described her art as a collaboration with nature and God. Her anthropomorphic compositions grew from found natural forms in wood foraged in Tennessee, informed by her personal study of African art. In God’s Gift to Man, detailed and individualized women are arranged on top of a visceral red gash. Harvey grapples with Biblical gender edicts demanding women be subservient to men, while evincing the painful frequency and reality of abuse and sexual assault of women by those same men.
Caption
Bessie Harvey American, 1929–1994. God's Gift to Man, 1987. Wood, Paint, Textile, Paper, Plastics, Hair, Metal, 47 × 48 × 26 in., 218 lb. (119.4 × 121.9 × 66 cm, 98.88kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018, 2018.37.5. © artist or artist's estate
Gallery
Not on view
Gallery
Not on view
Artist
Title
God's Gift to Man
Date
1987
Medium
Wood, Paint, Textile, Paper, Plastics, Hair, Metal
Classification
Dimensions
47 × 48 × 26 in., 218 lb. (119.4 × 121.9 × 66 cm, 98.88kg)
Credit Line
Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018
Accession Number
2018.37.5
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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