Adam and Eve Leave Eden

John William ("Uncle Jack") Dey, Adam and Eve Leave Eden, 1973, model airplane enamel on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.107
Copied John William ("Uncle Jack") Dey, Adam and Eve Leave Eden, 1973, model airplane enamel on fiberboard, 23 1⁄8 x 47 in. (58.7 x 119.4 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.107

Artwork Details

Title
Adam and Eve Leave Eden
Artist
Date
1973
Location
Dimensions
23 1⁄8 x 47 in. (58.7 x 119.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
model airplane enamel on fiberboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape
  • Religion — Old Testament — Eve
  • Religion — Old Testament — Adam
  • Religion — angel
Object Number
1986.65.107
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.107

Artwork Description

Uncle Jack Dey created this brightly colored scene to show the moment when Adam and Eve were cast out from paradise. An angel flies down to greet the couple with an eviction notice, while their bleak future is spelled out in a note on the ground: Gravy train gone. Adam settled down. Work hard in the barren land . . . Dey copied the figures from a reproduction of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, but instead of showing a large, threatening snake as their tempter, he painted a small creature that hides in the grass. (Lynda Hartigan, Made with Passion, 1990) The artist filled the painting with stripes and dabs of pure color to evoke Eden's lush surroundings.