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Scene of McPherson's Death. Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War, (Annotated)

Kara Walker2005

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Kansas City, Missouri, United States

In Scene of McPherson’s Death. Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War, (Annotated), Kara Walker, an African American artist, depicts a runaway slave wincing in horror at his severed foot, which has been cut off as punishment. Walker superimposes his flat black silhouette (her signature technique appropriated from Victorian era portraits) over a greatly enlarged photolithographic print of a photograph by George N. Barnard. The photograph documents the site near Atlanta where Union General James B. McPherson was killed by Confederate troops. The site is littered with remains of the battle: cannonballs, wagon wheels and a horse’s skeleton. Walker’s Scene of McPherson’s Death fuses her signature cutout with a historical photograph to capture the mayhem of the era.

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  • Title: Scene of McPherson's Death. Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War, (Annotated)
  • Creator: Kara Walker
  • Creator Lifespan: b. 1969
  • Creator Nationality: American
  • Date Created: 2005
  • Physical Dimensions: w990.6 x h1346.2 in (Unframed)
  • Type: Prints
  • Rights: Gift of John and Sharon Hoffman in honor of the 75th anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art © 2005 Kara Walker; Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, Gift of John and Sharon Hoffman in honor of the 75th anniversary of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art © 2005 Kara Walker; Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, © 2005 Kara Walker; Courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York
  • Medium: Silkscreen, ed. of 35
  • Culture: American
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

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