Painting Item Number: 3595/56 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Vertical painting depicting a stylized anthropomorphic figure. The figure's head and arms are raised up, toward the top. The figure is primarily brown with orange lines, circles, drop shapes, dots, and u-shapes decorating the head and body. Orange lines extend down from the figure's arms and connect to larger designs at the bottom of the canvas. These designs surround and connect to the decorations on the lower portion of the figure's body. The designs primarily consist of orange dots, lines, and u- and v-shapes as well as brown lines and dots. The cloth is stretched on a wooden stretcher and held in place by nails. There are several paint marks on the back. There are two illegible inscriptions/labels on the back and three (one legible; the other two, illegible) on the back of the stretcher.

Narrative

Collected by Fred Haack in South Sudan. Haack said he spent "a great deal of time in Juba" from 1979-c. 1982, where he acquired 80 Dinka paintings. Haack wrote that the paintings were made by "a young Dinka tribesman who went to a missionary school for a few months and, with no training, put paint to canvas." The artist's name in unknown. Haack gave 70 of the paintings to the Museum of Civilization in 1994. In 1996 he gave the last 10 to the Kelowna Museum (now Okanagan Heritage Museum).

Item History

What

Name
Painting
Identification Number
3595/56
Type of Item
painting
Overall
height 74.3 cm, width 47.3 cm, depth 1.5 cm

Who

Culture
Dinka
Previous Owner
Fred E. Haack and Okanagan Heritage Museum
Received from
Okanagan Heritage Museum (Transferring institution)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
“South Sudan” ?

When

Collection Date
between 1979 and 1982
Ownership Date
before 1996 and before September 14, 2022
Acquisition Date
on September 14, 2022

Other

Item Classes
paintings
Condition
good
Accession Number
3595/0056