Untitled

Simon Sparrow, Untitled, ca. 1968-1983, glitter, molded plastic, jewelry, shell, beads, and found objects on wood; artist-made painted wood frame, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.69
Simon Sparrow, Untitled, ca. 1968-1983, glitter, molded plastic, jewelry, shell, beads, and found objects on wood; artist-made painted wood frame, 33 × 35 in. (83.8 × 88.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.69

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled
Artist
Date
ca. 1968-1983
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
33 × 35 in. (83.8 × 88.9 cm)
Credit Line
The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
Mediums Description
glitter, molded plastic, jewelry, shell, beads, and found objects on wood; artist-made painted wood frame
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
2016.38.69
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2016.38.69

Artwork Description

Simon Sparrow was born in West Africa to a Yoruban father and Native American mother, and raised in the Great Smoky Mountains, where his maternal grandfather lived among the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Sparrow felt a deep connection to the natural world and began a spiritual journey when he was just a boy. He preached the Pentecost and called himself a child of God, noting: “You is saved by God, by the Son, by the Holy Ghost. Not by no religion. Religion is man-made.” Sparrow’s shimmering works center on faces and creatures surrounded with geometric forms conveying, as he explained, the spiritual essences of the ancestors.
(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Works by this artist (7 items)

View all artworks
Martyl, Synapse Suite VII, 1974, color lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1976.58.7
Synapse Suite VII
Artist
Date1974
color lithograph
Not on view
Martyl, Synapse Suite IV, 1974, color lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1976.58.4
Synapse Suite IV
Artist
Date1974
color lithograph
Not on view
Martyl, Synapse Suite II, 1974, color lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1976.58.2
Synapse Suite II
Artist
Date1974
color lithograph
Not on view
Martyl, Synapse Suite VI, 1974, color lithograph and foil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1976.58.6
Synapse Suite VI
Artist
Date1974
color lithograph and foil on paper
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, 2022–March 26, 2023
Smithsonian American Art Museum
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

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
City is Man
Artist
Date1941-1952
linocut
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Untitled
Artist
Date1976
embossed paper
Not on view
Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Mandala
Artist
Date1977
lithograph
Not on view
Image Not Available
Les Quais de la Seine a Paris
Artist
Date1917
hand-colored etching on postcard
Not on view