Artworks

Esther (from Cane by Jean Toomer, Arion Press editions), 2000

  • Artist

    Martin Puryear

  • Title

    Esther (from Cane by Jean Toomer, Arion Press editions)

  • Date

    2000

  • Medium

    Woodblock print on kitakata paper

  • Dimensions

    Frame: 19 1/2 × 23 1/4 × 1 1/4 in. (49.5 × 59.1 × 3.2 cm) Other (Paper): 17 × 20 1/2 in. (43.2 × 52.1 cm) Image: 10 3/8 × 12 3/4 in. (26.4 × 32.4 cm)

  • Edition

    Ed. 50/50

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee

  • Object Number

    2001.8.2

Martin Puryear’s Cane illustrates the 1923 novel of the same name by the Harlem Renaissance writer Jean Toomer. The text, highly experimental in form, shifts between prose vignettes and lyric poems, and likewise oscillates between stories of Black life in the South and the North. Puryear’s suite of prints portrays seven women—Karintha, Becky, Carma, Fern, Esther, Avey, and Bona—whose narratives intertwine in the novel. The work echoes the shifting format of Cane with its abstract shapes and fluid contour lines moving toward and away from recognizable forms.


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Artworks

Esther (from Cane by Jean Toomer, Arion Press editions), 2000

  • Artist

    Martin Puryear

  • Title

    Esther (from Cane by Jean Toomer, Arion Press editions)

  • Date

    2000

  • Medium

    Woodblock print on kitakata paper

  • Dimensions

    Frame: 19 1/2 × 23 1/4 × 1 1/4 in. (49.5 × 59.1 × 3.2 cm) Other (Paper): 17 × 20 1/2 in. (43.2 × 52.1 cm) Image: 10 3/8 × 12 3/4 in. (26.4 × 32.4 cm)

  • Edition

    Ed. 50/50

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee

  • Object Number

    2001.8.2

Martin Puryear’s Cane illustrates the 1923 novel of the same name by the Harlem Renaissance writer Jean Toomer. The text, highly experimental in form, shifts between prose vignettes and lyric poems, and likewise oscillates between stories of Black life in the South and the North. Puryear’s suite of prints portrays seven women—Karintha, Becky, Carma, Fern, Esther, Avey, and Bona—whose narratives intertwine in the novel. The work echoes the shifting format of Cane with its abstract shapes and fluid contour lines moving toward and away from recognizable forms.


Explore further