Vision of Ethiopia
The boldness of this woodcut design may have been inspired by the German Expressionist prints Wells saw during his student years at Columbia University’s Teachers College (1924–28), and by his subsequent association with New York art dealer and print enthusiast J. B. Neumann, an early champion of German Expressionism. The young artist made his first prints in 1927, displaying a preference for relief printmaking (woodcuts and linocuts). Initially, his images were created to illustrate texts in leading African American periodicals such as The Crisis and Opportunity, but eventually he produced them as independent works of art. In this powerful example, Wells joins religious iconography and his faith in a promised land with secular symbols of oppression and temptation in American society.
Artwork Details
- Title: Vision of Ethiopia
- Artist: James Lesesne Wells (American, Atlanta, Georgia 1902–1993 Washington, D.C.)
- Date: 1929
- Medium: Woodcut
- Dimensions: 17 13/16 × 13 13/16 in. (45.2 × 35.1 cm)
- Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999
- Object Number: 1999.529.179
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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James Lesesne Wells
ca. 1940
James Lesesne Wells
1929 or earlier
James Lesesne Wells
1975
James Lesesne Wells
ca. 1947–48
James Lesesne Wells
ca. 1940
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