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Sanford Biggers, Lady Interbellum, 2020, white marble on custom cedar plinth, 75 1⁄4 × 51 1⁄2 × 51 1⁄2 in. (191.1 × 130.8 × 130.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.44.2A-C, Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen. © Sanford Biggers. Photo credit: Lance Brewer
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Lady Interbellum
- Artist
- Date
- 2020
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 75 1⁄4 × 51 1⁄2 × 51 1⁄2 in. (191.1 × 130.8 × 130.8 cm)
- Copyright
- Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York and Aspen. © Sanford Biggers. Photo credit: Lance Brewer
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
- Mediums Description
- white marble on custom cedar plinth
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Abstract
- Object Number
- 2022.44.2A-C
Artwork Description
This piece combines 3D scans of two historical sculptures: a Central African Fang ancestral figure and an ancient Roman work.
It is part of Biggers's series Chimera, referencing a shape-shifting hybrid creature that the artist sees as a monster of history.
Biggers questions why museums classified European works as art, while sculptures from other parts of the world were deemed primitive artifacts.
Label text from The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture November 8, 2024 -- September 14, 2025