Faith Ringgold. American People Series #20: Die. 1967.

Oil on canvas, two panels, 72 × 144" (182.9 × 365.8 cm).

Thursdays are dedicated to honoring artists who have passed away but whose contributions to the art world remain significant. Their impact should never be forgotten.

This mural-sized painting evokes the civil uprisings erupting around the country at the time. On the canvas, blood spatters evenly across an interracial group of men, women, and children, suggesting that no one is free from this struggle. Their clothing—smart dresses and business attire—implies that a well-off professional class is being held accountable in this scene of violent chaos.

Ringgold has allied herself with various artists who took contemporary violence as their subject, from Jacob Lawrence to Pablo Picasso. In particular, Die’s scale, composition, and abstract background explicitly refer to Picasso’s Guernica: Ringgold studied that monumental 1937 depiction of the tragedies of war at MoMA when the painting was on long-term loan there from 1939 to 1981. Even as she was looking back, however, Ringgold was also looking ahead: “I was . . . terrified because I saw Die as a prophecy of our times.” The children grasping each other near the center of the painting give form to this fear of the future. - MoMA

Currently, you can see the mural at the MoMA, 4th floor, 415 The David Geffen Galleries.

One of my favorite pieces to sit in front of and stare at. RIP, Faith Ringgold

1930 - 2024