Strong Man

Ulysses Davis, Strong Man, ca. 1950-1990, carved and stained wood, 11 × 5 × 2 1⁄8 in. (27.9 × 12.7 × 5.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.18

Artwork Details

Title
Strong Man
Artist
Date
ca. 1950-1990
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
11 × 5 × 2 1⁄8 in. (27.9 × 12.7 × 5.4 cm)
Credit Line
The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
Mediums Description
carved and stained wood
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure male — waist length
Object Number
2016.38.18
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2016.38.18

Artwork Description

Davis often explored African and African-inspired subjects—kings and queens, warriors, and tribesmen, whose images he reportedly studied at the local library. A number of African-inspired but imaginatively rendered figures draw loosely on the theme of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. According to legend, they were banished from the Holy Land by conquering Assyrians. A number of African tribes trace their lineage to the Lost Tribes, whose stories of exile resonate throughout the Black African diaspora for the connections they offer between biblical figures and people uprooted or displaced from their ancestral lands.
(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Works by this artist (9 items)

View all artworks
Ulysses Davis, Beast Going Through the Grass, ca. 1984-1985, carved and painted wood with rhinestones, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1992.70.1
Beast Going Through the Grass
Artist
Dateca. 1984-1985
carved and painted wood with rhinestones
On view
Ulysses Davis, Untitled (Hart/Heart), ca. 1950-1960, carved wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2015.48
Untitled (Hart/​Heart)
Artist
Dateca. 1950-1960
carved wood
On view
Ulysses Davis, Sputnik, ca. 1957, carved and stained wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.22
Sputnik
Artist
Dateca. 1957
carved and stained wood
On view
Ulysses Davis, Where Life Comes From, ca. 1950-1990, carved and stained wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.23
Where Life Comes From
Artist
Dateca. 1950-1990
carved and stained wood
On view

More Artworks from the Collection

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Jesús Moroles, Lapstrake I, 1980, Georgia gray granite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Alton and Emily Steiner, 2002.82
Lapstrake I
Artist
Date1980
Georgia gray granite
Not on view
John Safer, Chandelle, 1969, revised 2013, Lucite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2007.23
Chandelle
Artist
Date1969, revised 2013
Lucite
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Shell), early 1930s, mixed media: paperboard, paper, shells, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1985.64.37
Untitled (Shell)
Artist
Dateearly 1930s
mixed media: paperboard, paper, shells
Not on view
Emery Blagdon, The Healing Machine, ca. 1955-1986, mixed media, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment and gift of Dan Dryden, friend of Emery Blagdon, the Kohler Foundation, Inc., and John E. and Douglas O. Robson, from the Margaret Z. Robson Collection, VR.2014.49.GRP
The Healing Machine
Artist
Dateca. 1955-1986
mixed media
On view