id:			379440
accession number:	2020.227
share license status:	Copyrighted
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.227
updated:		2022-03-19 09:00:33.999000

Two Heads #1, 1968. Jack Whitten (American, 1939-2018). Pastel on laid paper; sheet: 29.2 x 50.2 cm (11 1/2 x 19 3/4 in.); framed: 37.4 x 58.3 x 3.8 cm (14 3/4 x 22 15/16 x 1 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2020.227

title:				Two Heads #1
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1968
creation date earliest:		1968
creation date latest:		1968
current location:		ArtLens Exhibition A
creditline:			Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
copyright:			

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culture:	America, 20th century
technique:	pastel on laid paper
department:	Drawings
collection:	DR - American 20th Century
type:		Drawing
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Jack Whitten (American, 1939-2018)  - artist

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measurements: Sheet: 29.2 x 50.2 cm (11 1/2 x 19 3/4 in.); Framed: 37.4 x 58.3 x 3.8 cm (14 3/4 x 22 15/16 x 1 1/2 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

	inscription:	signed and dated, at lower right, in crayon: Whitten 68
	translation:	
	remark:		

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* <em>Jack Whitten: Transitional Space, A Drawing Survey</em>. Hauser &amp; Wirth, New York (January 28 - April 4, 2020).

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PROVENANCE

	Studio of the artist [1939-2018]
	date: 1968-2018
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Estate of the artist
	date: 2018-2020
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	(Hauser & Wirth, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
	date: 2020
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


	Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
	date: 2020-
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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fun fact: 
Drawing was central to Jack Whitten’s artistic practice and he described it once as “an act of brave exploration into unknown territories.”

digital description: 
For over five decades, Jack Whitten experimented with materials and process to create his own distinctive style of abstract drawing. This work dates to a period shortly after the artist relocated to New York from rural Alabama and was involved with the civil rights movement. Depicting two anonymous African American women, it belongs to a series of portraits, created by the artist as a means of commentary on the lack of visibility of such figures throughout Western art. Depicted in gestural marks of bright color, the subjects command the viewer’s attention and convey a sense of power and dignity.

wall description: 

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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES