Immolation, from the portfolio “On Fire”

Judy Chicago, Immolation, from the portfolio "On Fire", 1972, printed 2013, inkjet print on paper, image: 16 × 16 in. (40.6 × 40.6 cm) sheet: 24 × 24 in. (61 × 61 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum Purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2018.11.6

Artwork Details

Title: Immolation, from the portfolio “On Fire”
Artist: Judy Chicago
Date: 1972, printed 2013
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: image: 16 × 16 in. (40.6 × 40.6 cm) sheet: 24 × 24 in. (61 × 61 cm)
Credit Line: Museum Purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums Description: inkjet print on paper
Classifications: Photography
Object Number: 2018.11.6
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2018.11.6

Artwork Description

The title Immolation and the cross-legged pose of the nude figure bring to mind a famous photograph of the Buddhist monk Thích Qu?ng Ð?c, who self-immolated to protest the South Vietnamese government in 1963. Other monks and American peace activists later repeated his radical act. The colorful smoke in Immolation might also evoke the war's "rainbow herbicides"--most notoriously, Agent Orange--used by U.S. forces to defoliate combat zones. Chicago created Immolation when she led the country's first feminist art programs, initially at Fresno State College and then at CalArts