id:			287051
accession number:	2016.54
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2016.54
updated:		2022-01-04 18:04:59.708000

The Republic of New Afrika at a Crossroads, 2016. Kara Walker (American, b. 1969). Raw pigment and watercolor medium, graphite, and (paper) collage on paper; overall: 287 x 532.1 x 8.3 cm (113 x 209 1/2 x 3 1/4 in.); left: 287 x 264.8 x 8.3 cm (113 x 104 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.); right: 287 x 266.1 x 8.3 cm (113 x 104 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2016.54 © Kara Walker

title:				The Republic of New Afrika at a Crossroads
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			2016
creation date earliest:		2016
creation date latest:		2016
current location:		
creditline:			Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
copyright:			© Kara Walker

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culture:	America
technique:	Raw pigment and watercolor medium, graphite, and (paper) collage on paper
department:	Contemporary Art
collection:	CONTEMP - Painting
type:		Painting
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Kara Walker (American, b. 1969)  - artist

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measurements: Overall: 287 x 532.1 x 8.3 cm (113 x 209 1/2 x 3 1/4 in.); Left: 287 x 264.8 x 8.3 cm (113 x 104 1/4 x 3 1/4 in.); Right: 287 x 266.1 x 8.3 cm (113 x 104 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	signed, recto
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		The Ecstasy of St. Kara: Kara Walker, New Work
	opening date:   2016-09-10T04:00:00
	<i>The Ecstasy of St. Kara: Kara Walker, New Work</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-December 31, 2016).

	title:		Stories From Storage
	opening date:   2021-02-07T05:00:00
	<i>Stories From Storage</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>The Ecstasy of St. Kara: Kara Walker, New Work</em>. Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 10 – December 31, 2016).

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PROVENANCE

	Collection of the artist
	date: 2016
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: 2016
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2016-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
This is part of series inspired by Walker’s 2016 stay in Rome, where she encountered the intersection between her work and Christian narratives.

digital description: 


wall description: 
This singular drawing is at odds with Walker’s clear cut figurative work, seeking to disrupt legibility with abstraction and ambiguity. Indeed, a tangle of bodies in chaotic motion covers the entire surface of the paper. The black separatist group mentioned in this work’s title sought to create a sovereign country for African Americans within the southern United States. The tumultuous composition raises the question of what the consequences would have been had the utopian plan gained momentum.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	
	page number: 	
	url:		

	Griswold, William M. “Recent Acquisitions (2013-20) at the Cleveland Museum of Art.” <em>Burlington Magazine </em>163, no. 1414 (January 2021): 93-104.
	page number: 	Mentioned and reproduced: P. 100-101, no. 15; mentioned: P. 93
	url:		

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IMAGES