TAYLOR PRENTISS Untitled pen and ink sketch for a mural

Sale 2105 - Lot 132

Unsold

Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500

DESIGN FOR A MURAL TAYLOR, PRENTISS. Untitled pen and ink sketch for a mural, initialed "P.T." in the sketch, and "Please return to Prentiss Taylor c/o C. P. Smith Hautboy Hill, Falls Village, Connecticut" in the lower margin; 16x11 1/8 inches on artist's board. Some wear to the corner tips; a slight wrinkle to the lower blank margin. Np, circa 1930-35

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Additional Details

Prentiss Taylor (1907-1991) was associated with some of the greatest writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance. He and Langston Hughes collaborated on several projects through their Golden Stair Press, notably "The Negro Mother." His papers are at the Smithsonian Institution.

Depicts a muscular man, his hands outstretched and in chains, as though in a slave "koffle." One arm embraces worker in a field, the other is chained to a student, who holds a diploma. Beneath the latter are more workers. From the style and subject matter, it is quite likely that this was done while Taylor worked for the WPA. Written faintly beneath the center of the image is "7 1/2," possibly a measure in feet.