The Museum of Modern Art’s announcement of 18 October 1937 records an exhibition of William Edmondson’s limestone sculptures, including biblical figures, animals and portraits of community roles. The museum describes the Nashville artist’s move from tombstone carving into sculpture. The historical document also shows the racial and “primitive” categories through which the institution framed his work.
By AFROSCOPE Daily·Source: The Museum of Modern Art·
The Museum of Modern Art’s March 1935 announcement proposed an exhibition of 603 African objects from museum and private collections. Sculpture and masks were to appear alongside musical instruments and everyday objects such as spoons and headrests. The release related African artistic forms to modern European art. Read today, it documents both the planned exhibition and a period museum viewpoint that needs critical historical context.