Backdrops circa 1940s

Artist Lorna Simpson (American, born 1961)

Date1998

MediumScreenprints on felt

DimensionsImage and sheet (left): 26 1/8 × 16 3/4 inches (66.36 × 42.55 cm)
Image and sheet (right): 26 1/8 × 16 3/4 inches (66.36 × 42.55 cm)
Mount: 26 3/8 × 34 1/2 inches (66.99 × 87.63 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.4961.A,B

SignedSignature Signed in artist's hand Back of Each Panel pencil

InscribedOn left panel recto, lower left, in black type: "...seated in photographer's studio, circa 1940's."; On right panel recto, lower left, in black type: "...standing while singing on film set, circa 1940's."

Markingsnone

Edition/State/Proofed. 15/35

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionThe left panel is an image of a young woman wearing a white dress seated with a smiling crescent moon and stars. The right panel is an image of a woman in the lower right corner, half of her face and much of her body is cropped from view. She wears an off-the-shoulder top and her right hand is raised. Tiny white lights/dots are scattered across the dark background.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

New Work: Selections from the HPC. Emporia State, Emporia, KS, Baker University, Baldwin City, KS, August-November 1999, no cat

American Photography: Recent Additions to the Hallmark Photographic Collection, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, February 27 – May 14, 2000, no cat.

Turn of the Century: Recent Works from the HPC. Herron School of Art, Indianapolis, IN, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO, October-December 2001, no cat

Rotation 24. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9 – November 12, 2017, no cat.

Gallery Label

Simpson pairs two found images of Black actresses posing against 1940s Hollywood backdrops. The image on the left depicts an anonymous woman. On the right is a heavily cropped image of Lena Horne on the set of the 1943 film I Dood It. Horne appeared in that film’s musical numbers, which were cut when the movie screened in the South to appease racist viewers. Simpson highlights the marginalization of these women while celebrating their achievements.

Provenance

Karen McCready Fine Art, New York, NY
Purchased from Karen McCready Fine Art by Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1999;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

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