id: 163769
accession number: 2005.181
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2005.181
updated: 2025-03-08 13:06:03.653000
Go Down Death, 1934. Aaron Douglas (American, 1899–1979). Oil on Masonite; framed: 124.5 x 94 x 3.8 cm (49 x 37 x 1 1/2 in.); unframed: 121.9 x 91.5 cm (48 x 36 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund and Gift of Prof. and Mrs. David C. Driskell, 2005.181. Art © Heirs of Aaron Douglas/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
title: Go Down Death
title in original language:
series:
series in original language:
creation date: 1934
creation date earliest: 1934
creation date latest: 1934
current location: 226A American Modern
creditline: John L. Severance Fund and Gift of Prof. and Mrs. David C. Driskell
copyright: Art © Heirs of Aaron Douglas/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY
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culture: America
technique: oil on Masonite
department: American Painting and Sculpture
collection: American - Painting
type: Painting
find spot:
catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* Aaron Douglas (American, 1899–1979) - artist
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measurements: Framed: 124.5 x 94 x 3.8 cm (49 x 37 x 1 1/2 in.); Unframed: 121.9 x 91.5 cm (48 x 36 in.)
state of the work:
edition of the work:
support materials:
inscriptions:
inscription: signed "A. Douglas" lower right corner in purple paint
translation:
remark:
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: Aaron Douglas and the Harlem Renaissance
opening date: 2007-09-08T00:00:00
Aaron Douglas and the Harlem Renaissance. Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS (organizer) (September 8-December 2, 2007); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (January 19-April 13, 2008); National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC (May 9-August 3, 2008); Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY (August 30-November 30, 2008).
title: The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s
opening date: 2017-04-07T00:00:00
The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, NY (April 7-August 20, 2017); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 30, 2017-January 14, 2018).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* {'description': 'Two Centuries of Black American Art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (September 30-November 21, 1976); High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (January 8-February 20, 1977); Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX (March 30-May 15, 1977); The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY(June 25-August 21, 1977).', 'opening_date': '1976-09-30T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Hidden Heritage: Afro-American Art, 1800-1950. Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA (September 14-November 10, 1985); Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Bronx, NY (January 14-March 10, 1986); California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, CA (April 7-June 2, 1986); Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (July 4-August 31, 1986); Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC (September 22-November 17, 1986); San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX (December 15, 1986-February 9, 1987); Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (March 8-May 3, 1987).', 'opening_date': '1985-09-14T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America. Studio Museum in Harlem, Harlem, NY (February 12-August 30, 1987); Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (April 7-June 5, 1988); High Museum of Art, Alanta, GA (June 28-September 4, 1988); Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME (September 24-November 20, 1988); Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, University of Texas, Austin, TX (January 14-February 26, 1989); Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts (March 27-May 21, 1989); Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, TN (June 17-August 6, 1989); New York State Museum, Albany, NY (August 29-October 29, 1989).', 'opening_date': '1987-02-12T00:00:00'}
* {'description': 'Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The Davide C. Driskill Collection. The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (October 22- December 19, 1998); African American Museum, Dallas, TX (March 13- June 19, 1999); Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME (July 21- October 17, 1999); The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (November 20, 1999- February 12, 2000); The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (June 20- September 10, 2000); Newark Museum, Newark, NJ (October 25, 2000- February 25, 2001); Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (March 17- May 14, 2001); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (July 8- September 30, 2001); Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL (October 15, 2001- January 13, 2002), FL; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC (April 23-October 25, 2002).', 'opening_date': '1998-10-22T00:00:00'}
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PROVENANCE
Collection of the artist
date: until 1977
footnotes:
citations:
Dr. and Mrs. David C. Driskell, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art
date: 1977-2005
footnotes:
citations:
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
date: 2005-
footnotes:
citations:
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fun fact:
digital description:
wall description:
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
Driskell, David, C. Two Centuries of Black American Art Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976.
page number: Mentioned: p. 153
url:
Driskell, David C. Hidden Heritage: Afro-American Art, 1800-1950. San Francisco, Calif: The Association, 1985.
page number: Cat. no. 50
url:
Driskell, David C. Hidden Heritage: Afro-American Art, 1800–1950. Bellevue Art Museum, Washington: Art Museum Association of America, 1985, second printing 1987.
page number: Mentioned: p. 41,94
url:
Campbell, Mary Schmidt. et al., Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America. New York: Abrams, 1987.
page number: Mentioned: p. 110, 130; Reproduced: color plate 33
url:
Gips, Terry. Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection. San Francisco, Calif: Pomegranate, 1998.
page number: Cat. no. 14
url:
Holland, Juanita Marie. Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The David C. Driskell Collection. San Francisco: Pomegranate, 1998.
page number: Reproduced: frontispiece, p. 81, n. 14; Mentioned: p. 81, 183
url:
McAleer,Bernard. “After Hours: An Inspiring Heritage.” The Network Journal 8, no. 4 (January 31, 2001)
page number: Mentioned: p. 34
url:
Litt, Steven. "Museum buys work by important black painter." The Plain Dealer, December 22, 2005.
page number: Mentioned: p. F-1, F-3; Reproduced: p. F-3
url:
"Mark Cole." Cleveland Art 46, no. 3 (March 2006)
page number: Mentioned: p. 2, 10
url:
Earle, Susan, ed. Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.
page number: Reproduced: p. 172, n. 73
url:
Adams, Henry. What's American about American art?: a gallery tour in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008.
page number: Reproduced: fig. 15, p. 13
url:
Cole, Mark. "Jacob Lawrence's Fulton and Nostrand." Cleveland Art 48 (February 2008).
page number: Reproduced: p. 7; Mentioned: p. 7
url:
Gordon, Margery. "Eyes on the Prizes." Art & Auction 31 (February 2008)
page number: Reproduced: p. 117; Mentioned: p. 117
url:
Cole, Mark, "Jacob Lawrence's Fulton and Nostrand", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 48 no. 2, February 2008
page number: Mentioned & reproduced: p. 7
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2008-02/page/6
McIntyre, Dianna. "A Personal Favorite." Cleveland Art 51 (March/April 2011)
page number: Mentioned: p. 8; Reproduced: p. 8
url:
Cole, Mark. African American Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013.
page number: Mentioned: p. 16
url:
Anderson, Nancy. “Aaron Douglas/The Judgment Day/1939.” In American Paintings, 1900–1945, NGA Online Editions.
page number: Reproduced: p. 7
url:
Smith, Roberta. "A Show's Secret Star: Art Deco steps out incognito with plenty of company in a design exhibition." The New York Times, April 7, 2017.
page number: Mentioned: p. C19
url:
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IMAGES