John Brown

Maker John Steuart Curry (American, 1897 - 1946)

ClassificationsPRINTS

Date1939

Mediumlithograph

Dimensionsimage: 14 3/4 x 10 15/16 in. (37.5 x 27.8 cm.) sheet: 18 1/4 x 13 1/2 in. (46.4 x 34.3 cm.)

DescriptionMan with arms open, tornado and covered wagons in the background

SignedSigned in lower right of recto in graphite: John Steuart Curry

InscribedSigned in lower right of recto in graphite: John Steuart Curry

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Hannah S. Kully

Status

Not on view

Label TextCurry created several images of John Brown, the abolitionist who fought against pro-slavery forces in Curry's home state of Kansas before the disastrous 1859 raid on the armory at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, a failed attempt to arm slaves and begin an insurrection. In this lithograph, Brown, with arms outstretched and mouth open, seems to call down a tornado onto the Kansas plains through the force of his will. The image is based on Michelangelo's marble statue Moses (ca. 1515), which shares with John Brown an expression of single-minded purpose bordering on madness.

Object number2013.17.15