Ruling for the Child
Depicting a king and queen seated side by side, the queen holding a child, Ruling for the Child is reminiscent of royal Egyptian sculpture. Its static, frontal composition and invocation of power and lineage are qualities that conjure the ancient arts of Africa that the artist seemingly aspired to channel. Holley carved it from a waste mold (composed of sand bound by resin) scavenged from a nearby industrial foundry, a resource from which the artist drew raw materials for several of his sculptures. He initially began carving with sandstone when his sister lost her children in a house fire; his first sandstone carvings were intended as memorials for the dead, similar to ancient Egyptian sculpture found inside the tombs of pharaohs.
Artwork Details
- Title: Ruling for the Child
- Artist: Lonnie Holley (American, born Birmingham, Alabama, 1950)
- Date: 1982
- Medium: Investment casting materials
- Dimensions: 20 × 10 1/2 × 15 1/2 in. (50.8 × 26.7 × 39.4 cm)
Weight: 63.2 lb. (28.7 kg) - Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Gift of Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2014
- Object Number: 2014.548.9
- Rights and Reproduction: © Lonnie Holley/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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