Bible Flying (#1805)

Howard Finster, Bible Flying (#1805), 1980, enamel on wood, 24 x 50 ⁷⁄₈ in. (61.0 x 129.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.16

Artwork Details

Title: Bible Flying (#1805)
Artist: Howard Finster
Date: 1980
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
Luce Foundation Center
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3rd Floor
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24A
Dimensions: 24 x 50 ⁷⁄₈ in. (61.0 x 129.3 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums: enamel
Mediums Description: enamel on wood
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Architecture — vehicle — airplane
Religion — Old Testament
Landscape — imaginary
Object Number: 1997.124.16
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1997.124.16

Artwork Description

Howard Finster was fascinated by modern technology and filled his two-acre Paradise Garden with portraits of inventors and examples of their creations. An inscription on this painting reveals that it was inspired by an airplane trip to Miami. Finster used quotes from the Bible to compare this journey to visions of divine flight, such as "who are these that fly as a cloud" and "Oh that I had wings like a dove for then would I fly away." He painted an eerie, hilly landscape depicting the fantasy world that he "saw" from the window of the airplane.