The Sunny South

Description

Like many African American artists, Georgia-born Walter Ellison migrated from the rural South to the urban, industrial North after World War I. In the 1930s, he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and became involved with the South Side Community Arts Center. This lively monotype shows the artist’s playfulness with his materials, but it also suggests the feelings of nostalgia and loss experienced by the displaced participants of the Great Migration.

The Sunny South

Walter Ellison

1939

Accession Number

76357

Medium

Monotype on cream Japanese paper

Dimensions

Image: 53.5 × 40.6 cm (21 1/8 × 16 in.); Sheet: 56.6 × 40.6 cm (22 5/16 × 16 in.)

Classification

monotype

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

H. Karl and Nancy von Maltitz Endowment