Collection Highlights
Wooden leg of Gouverneur Morris
ca. 1780
1954.148
Oak, leather, metal
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
"Carmen Jones"
Title
"Carmen Jones"
Date
1944
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Overall: 19 1/2 x 24 in. ( 49.5 x 61 cm )
Description
The five "figures" dancing toward the right in a frieze-like manner and the action in this colorful canvas are painted in a style that walks a tightrope between surrealism and expressionism, as well as abstraction. Their movement was inspired by the musical "Carmen Jones," 1943.
Credit Line
Gift of the Estate of Laurie Vance Johnson and Edward Dudley Hume Johnson
Object Number
2001.102
Marks
signed at lower right: Corbino
Gallery Label
Rather than documenting the theatrical production of "Carmen Jones" by Oscar Hammerstein II, the artist took the theme as a springboard to create this dynamic interpretation of the movement and power behind music, dance and black culture. Based on the 19th century opera, Hammerstein moved the story from a cigarette factory in Spain to a parachute factory in the United States and used black dialect. The painting was a wedding gift from the artist to Laurie Vance and Edward Dudley Hume Johnson.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.