Woman in Profile (Young Girl of African Descent)

1933

Not on view

Powell studied at Cooper Union in New York, and gained early success from her work for the Federal Art Project, including murals she painted at Harlem Hospital that still stand today. Powell was a practicing art therapist for much of her life, and her own artwork has recently garnered renewed attention. At age seventeen, she created this striking composition of a poised young woman in profile against the orb of a full moon. The figure is surrounded by abstracted foliage and fruits that echo her jewelry and pendant earring. Here, the subject’s African heritage becomes a central component in Powell’s vision of modernism.

Artwork Details

Title: Woman in Profile (Young Girl of African Descent)
Artist: Georgette Seabrooke Powell (American, 1916–2011)
Date: 1933
Medium: Linocut
Dimensions: 12 3/8 × 12 5/16 in. (31.4 × 31.3 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999
Object Number: 1999.529.137
Rights and Reproduction: © Georgette Seabrooke Powell
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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