The Guardian

Media - 1994.23.4 - SAAM-1994.23.4_2 - 135653
Copied Earlie Hudnall, Jr., The Guardian, 1990, gelatin silver print, sheet: 19 7⁄8 x 16 in. (50.4 x 40.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.4, © 1990, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.

Artwork Details

Title
The Guardian
Artist
Date
1990
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 19 7⁄8 x 16 in. (50.4 x 40.7 cm.)
Markings
back lower left in pencil: The Guardian/Earlie Hudnall Jr 19 (sic) back upper right in pencil: EHJ 0216-A
Copyright
© 1990, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Highlights
Keywords
  • Landscape
  • African American
  • Figure group — male and child
  • Dress — accessory — eye wear
  • Object — other — flag
  • Architecture Exterior
Object Number
1994.23.4
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1994.23.4

Artwork Description

Many of Hudnall’s photographs focus on children and the elderly. “A unique commonality exists between young and old,” he observes, “because there is always a continuity between the past and the future. It is this commonality which I strive to depict in my work.” In The Guardian, a father enfolds his young daughter as they stand along a street reflected in the mirrored lenses of his glasses. The American flag tucked behind his ear suggests more – that in addition to warmth and affection, he is passing on a sense of community and patriotic pride.


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012