Untitled (Church)

Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Church), ca. 1950, crayon, pencil, and watercolor on various joined papers, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.192
Copied Martín Ramírez, Untitled (Church), ca. 1950, crayon, pencil, and watercolor on various joined papers, 31 3⁄4 x 37 1⁄8 in. (80.8 x 94.2 cm) irregular, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.192

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled (Church)
Artist
Date
ca. 1950
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
31 3⁄4 x 37 1⁄8 in. (80.8 x 94.2 cm) irregular
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums
Mediums Description
crayon, pencil, and watercolor on various joined papers
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Animal — donkey
  • Architecture Exterior — religious — church
Object Number
1986.65.192
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.192

Artwork Description

Martin Ramírez was among many Mexicans lured to America in the 1920s by the promise of work. He made the journey by train and worked for a time on the railroads and in mines. But in 1931, he was detained for vagrancy and subsequently admitted to a psychiatric hospital where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He spent his remaining thirty-two years institutionalized. Around 1950, he began to draw images that combine memories of his homeland, such as this parish church, with highly abstracted images evoking a profound sense of displacement and loss.