Painting Item Number: 3595/51 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Painting on cloth depicting a stylized anthropomorphic figure. The figure's head is pointed towards the viewer's left side. The figure's right hand is raised in the same direction as their head. Concentric curved purple lines outline and emerge from the figure's head and raised hand. The figure's left arm and right side of their body are outlined with purple oblong drop shapes and red (and green on the left arm) dots. The majority of the figure's body is outlined with small green, red, and purple dots. In the centre of the figure's body are three sets of concentric white, brown, red, and green circles. The cloth itself has uneven edges.

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
3595/51
Type of Item
painting
Overall
height 88.4 cm, width 44.8 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
3595/0051