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Burning African Village Play Set with Big House and Lynching
Details
KARA WALKER (B. 1969)
Burning African Village Play Set with Big House and Lynching
painted laser cut steel, in twenty-two parts
smallest: 1 7⁄8 x 3 7⁄8 x 1/2in. (4.8 x 9.8 x 1.3cm.)
largest: 11 x 11 ¾ x 6 ¼in. (27.9 x 29.8 x 15.9cm.)
installation dimensions variable
Executed in 2006, this work is number seventeen from an edition of twenty, plus one hors-commerce, two printer's proofs and five artist's proofs
Burning African Village Play Set with Big House and Lynching
painted laser cut steel, in twenty-two parts
smallest: 1 7⁄8 x 3 7⁄8 x 1/2in. (4.8 x 9.8 x 1.3cm.)
largest: 11 x 11 ¾ x 6 ¼in. (27.9 x 29.8 x 15.9cm.)
installation dimensions variable
Executed in 2006, this work is number seventeen from an edition of twenty, plus one hors-commerce, two printer's proofs and five artist's proofs
Provenance
Sikkema Jenkins & Co, New York.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2009.
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2009.
Literature
In Praise of Shadows, exh. cat., Dublin, Irish Museum of Modern Art, 2008-2009 (another from the edition illustrated in colour, p. 125).
Den Haag Sculptuur 08: Freedom, exh. cat., The Hague, Stichting Den Haag Sculptuur, 2008, p. 88 (detail of another from the edition illustrated in colour, p. 86).
Kara Walker: The Black Road, exh. cat., Malaga, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, 2008 (detail of another from the edition illustrated in colour, p. 41).
A. Eler, 'Kara Walker Lands in Oregon', in Hyperallergic, 19 March 2014, digital (detail of another from the edition illustrated in colour).
C. Kino, 'Kara Walker's Thought-Provoking Art', in The Wall Street Journal, 5 November 2014, digital.
A. Landi, 'Telling Stories in Three Dimensions: Installation Art Today', in ARTnews, 20 January 2015, digital (detail of another from the edition, illustrated in colour).
Remix: Themes and Variations in African-American Art, exh. cat., Columbia, Columbia Museum of Art, 2016, p. 28, fig. 9 (another from the edition illustrated in colour, pp. 29 and 78).
H. Thorpe, 'When silence falls', in Studio International, 17 January 2016, digital.
R. Scher, 'Brooklyn Museum Partners With Equal Justice Initiative to Survey 'The Legacy of Lynching'', in ARTnews, 25 July 2017, digital.
S. Ziv, 'What It Means to Be Black in America: 'Slavery Didn't End in 1865. It Evolved'', in Newsweek, 29 July 2017, digital.
T. Thackara, 'At the Brooklyn Museum, Tracing the History of Lynching in America', in Artsy, 1 September 2017, digital (detail of another from the edition illustrated in colour).
M. Friedrich, 'At the Brooklyn Museum, New Research on Lynching in America Dialogues with the Art', in Hyperallergic, 2 October 2017, digital (installation view of another from the edition at The Brooklyn Museum in 2017 illustrated in colour).
R. Catlin, 'Rarely Seen 19th-Century Silhouette of a Same-Sex Couple Living Together Goes On View', in Smithsonian Magazine, 25 May 2018, digital.
N. Carolan, 'All the Better to See You With', in Grazia Magazine, 2018, digital (another from the edition illustrated in colour).
G. Harris, 'Southern discomfort: Kara Walker to take over Tate Modern's Turbine Hall this autumn', in The Art Newspaper, 11 March 2019, digital.
D. Vankin, 'Must-see - and little-known - art highlights along Grand Avenue', in Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2019, digital.
V. Tedeschi, 'All the Better to See You With: Fairy Tales Transformed (review)', in Marvels & Tales, vol. 33, no. 1, 2019, p. 213.
Den Haag Sculptuur 08: Freedom, exh. cat., The Hague, Stichting Den Haag Sculptuur, 2008, p. 88 (detail of another from the edition illustrated in colour, p. 86).
Kara Walker: The Black Road, exh. cat., Malaga, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, 2008 (detail of another from the edition illustrated in colour, p. 41).
A. Eler, 'Kara Walker Lands in Oregon', in Hyperallergic, 19 March 2014, digital (detail of another from the edition illustrated in colour).
C. Kino, 'Kara Walker's Thought-Provoking Art', in The Wall Street Journal, 5 November 2014, digital.
A. Landi, 'Telling Stories in Three Dimensions: Installation Art Today', in ARTnews, 20 January 2015, digital (detail of another from the edition, illustrated in colour).
Remix: Themes and Variations in African-American Art, exh. cat., Columbia, Columbia Museum of Art, 2016, p. 28, fig. 9 (another from the edition illustrated in colour, pp. 29 and 78).
H. Thorpe, 'When silence falls', in Studio International, 17 January 2016, digital.
R. Scher, 'Brooklyn Museum Partners With Equal Justice Initiative to Survey 'The Legacy of Lynching'', in ARTnews, 25 July 2017, digital.
S. Ziv, 'What It Means to Be Black in America: 'Slavery Didn't End in 1865. It Evolved'', in Newsweek, 29 July 2017, digital.
T. Thackara, 'At the Brooklyn Museum, Tracing the History of Lynching in America', in Artsy, 1 September 2017, digital (detail of another from the edition illustrated in colour).
M. Friedrich, 'At the Brooklyn Museum, New Research on Lynching in America Dialogues with the Art', in Hyperallergic, 2 October 2017, digital (installation view of another from the edition at The Brooklyn Museum in 2017 illustrated in colour).
R. Catlin, 'Rarely Seen 19th-Century Silhouette of a Same-Sex Couple Living Together Goes On View', in Smithsonian Magazine, 25 May 2018, digital.
N. Carolan, 'All the Better to See You With', in Grazia Magazine, 2018, digital (another from the edition illustrated in colour).
G. Harris, 'Southern discomfort: Kara Walker to take over Tate Modern's Turbine Hall this autumn', in The Art Newspaper, 11 March 2019, digital.
D. Vankin, 'Must-see - and little-known - art highlights along Grand Avenue', in Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2019, digital.
V. Tedeschi, 'All the Better to See You With: Fairy Tales Transformed (review)', in Marvels & Tales, vol. 33, no. 1, 2019, p. 213.
Exhibited
New York, Brooklyn Museum, 21: Selections of Contemporary Art from the Brooklyn Museum, 2008-2009 (another from the edition exhibited).
Turin, Fondazione Merz, kara walker: a negress of noteworthy talent, 2011, pp. 15, 111, 114 and 151 (another from the edition exhibited and illustrated in colour, pp. 82-83; installation view illustrated in colour, pp. 80-81 and 84-85).
Portland, Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, Kara Walker: More & Less, 2012, p. 12 (another from the edition exhibited).
Sacramento, Crocker Art Museum, Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker’s Tales of Slavery and Power, 2013-2017 (another from the edition exhibited and illustrated in colour, p. 16). This exhibition later travelled to Eugene, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon; Boise, Boise Art Museum; Medford, Tufts University Art Gallery at Aidekman Arts Center; College Park, David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland; Springfield, Springfield Art Museum; Laramie, University of Wyoming Art Museum; Bellevue, Bellevue Arts Museum and Amherst, University Museum of Contemporary Art.
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, When silence falls, 2015-2016, pp. 5 and 47 (another from the edition exhibited and illustrated in colour, pp. 19-22).
New York, Brooklyn Museum, The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America, 2017 (another from the edition exhibited).
Paris, La maison rouge – fondation Antoine de Galbert, Étranger Résident, la collection Marin Karmitz, 2017-2018 (another from the edition exhibited; illustrated in colour, pp. 36-37).
Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Ian Potter Museum of Art, All the better to see you with: Fairy tales transformed, 2017-2018.
Washington, D.C., National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institution, Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now, 2018-2020, p. 43, no. 42 (another from the edition exhibited; detail illustrated in colour, p. X; illustrated in colour, pp. 138-139). This exhibition later travelled to Jackson, Mississippi Museum of Art, and Birmingham, Birmingham Museum of Art.
Nashville, Frist Art Museum, Kara Walker: Cut to the Quick, from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, 2021-2023, p. 7 (another from the edition exhibited). This exhibition later travelled to Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum; Jacksonville, Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville; Virginia Beach, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art; and Los Angeles, USC Fisher Museum of Art.
Maine, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, American Conversations, 2026 (another from the edition exhibited).
Turin, Fondazione Merz, kara walker: a negress of noteworthy talent, 2011, pp. 15, 111, 114 and 151 (another from the edition exhibited and illustrated in colour, pp. 82-83; installation view illustrated in colour, pp. 80-81 and 84-85).
Portland, Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, Kara Walker: More & Less, 2012, p. 12 (another from the edition exhibited).
Sacramento, Crocker Art Museum, Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker’s Tales of Slavery and Power, 2013-2017 (another from the edition exhibited and illustrated in colour, p. 16). This exhibition later travelled to Eugene, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon; Boise, Boise Art Museum; Medford, Tufts University Art Gallery at Aidekman Arts Center; College Park, David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland; Springfield, Springfield Art Museum; Laramie, University of Wyoming Art Museum; Bellevue, Bellevue Arts Museum and Amherst, University Museum of Contemporary Art.
Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, When silence falls, 2015-2016, pp. 5 and 47 (another from the edition exhibited and illustrated in colour, pp. 19-22).
New York, Brooklyn Museum, The Legacy of Lynching: Confronting Racial Terror in America, 2017 (another from the edition exhibited).
Paris, La maison rouge – fondation Antoine de Galbert, Étranger Résident, la collection Marin Karmitz, 2017-2018 (another from the edition exhibited; illustrated in colour, pp. 36-37).
Melbourne, University of Melbourne, Ian Potter Museum of Art, All the better to see you with: Fairy tales transformed, 2017-2018.
Washington, D.C., National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian Institution, Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now, 2018-2020, p. 43, no. 42 (another from the edition exhibited; detail illustrated in colour, p. X; illustrated in colour, pp. 138-139). This exhibition later travelled to Jackson, Mississippi Museum of Art, and Birmingham, Birmingham Museum of Art.
Nashville, Frist Art Museum, Kara Walker: Cut to the Quick, from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, 2021-2023, p. 7 (another from the edition exhibited). This exhibition later travelled to Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum; Jacksonville, Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville; Virginia Beach, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art; and Los Angeles, USC Fisher Museum of Art.
Maine, Ogunquit Museum of American Art, American Conversations, 2026 (another from the edition exhibited).
Further details
Other examples of this edition are held in the permanent collections of the The Broad Museum, Los Angeles, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Alicante, Alicante and The Columbus Museum, Columbus.
Brought to you by
Stephanie Rao
Specialist, Co-head of Day Sale