Fan

Sister Gertrude Morgan, Fan, ca. 1970, paint and ink on card, 9 34 × 8 12 in. (24.8 × 21.6 cm) irregular, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.43R-V

Artwork Details

Title
Fan
Date
ca. 1970
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
9 34 × 8 12 in. (24.8 × 21.6 cm) irregular
Credit Line
The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
Mediums Description
paint and ink on card
Classifications
Subjects
  • Religion — angel
  • Object — written matter — book
  • Figure female — full length
  • Occupation — medicine — nurse
  • African American
  • Landscape
  • Architecture
  • Figure group
Object Number
2016.38.43R-V

Artwork Description

Sister Gertrude Morgan fashioned paper fans like this one for people to use during prayer meetings at her Everlasting Gospel Mission. During her services, Morgan sang, played guitar or tambourine, and encouraged a call-and-response singing style among attendees. On one side of this fan, Morgan painted a scene of New Jerusalem, a symbolic, heavenly city for the devout, described in the Book of Revelation. On the front-facing side, Morgan depicted herself in nurse’s clothing, conveying her self-chosen role as a spiritual healer of the soul.
(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Works by this artist (5 items)

Frederick Brown, Junior Wells, 1989, oil on linen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by William Cost Johnson, George W. Story, Robert J. Oliver and Mrs. Barwig-Wagner, 1990.31
Junior Wells
Date1989
oil on linen
Not on view
Frederick Brown, Green Window, 1970, oil, silica, and glue on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Gerald L. Pearson, 1995.22.2, © 1970, Frederick J. Brown
Green Window
Date1970
oil, silica, and glue on canvas
Not on view
Frederick Brown, John Henry, 1979, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Gerald L. Pearson, 1995.22.1, © 1979, Frederick J. Brown
John Henry
Date1979
oil on canvas
Not on view
Frederick Brown, Stagger Lee, 1983, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1991.40, © 1983, Frederick J. Brown
Stagger Lee
Date1983
oil on canvas
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.38.43R-V - SAAM-2016.38.43R-V_2 - 126225
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection
July 1, 2022March 26, 2023
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection traces the rise of self-taught artists in the twentieth century and examines how, despite wide-ranging societal, racial, and gender-based obstacles, their creativity and