Eldzier Cortor, born Richmond, VA 1916-died Seaford, NY 2015 Search this
Medium:
oil on canvas
Dimensions:
46 1/4 x 22 in. (117.5 x 55.8 cm.)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1942-1943
Exhibition Label:
Painted in the early years of World War II, Southern Gate offers, a surreal, dreamlike picture of a solemn young woman standing in a space defined by a once-elegant wrought-iron fence, a river, and the steeple of a distant church. They are evocative elements -- the river is a traditional metaphor for passage, the fence an emblem of both confinement and of safe haven from the outside world. Wearing a necklace adorned with a cross and with a bird perched on her shoulder, she invites associations with the Virgin Mary; but Cortor's figure is as physical as she is innocent, an Edenic Eve who stands outside the sacred garden.
African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012