Cane, by Jean Toomer, illustrated with woodcuts by Martin Puryear

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Copied Martin Puryear, Cane, by Jean Toomer, illustrated with woodcuts by Martin Puryear, 2000, leather bound book with letter press text and woodcut illustrations, in wooden slipcase, 11 3⁄4 x 14 1⁄8 x 1 1⁄4 in. (29.8 x 35.9 x 3.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Linda Lichtenberg Kaplan and museum purchase through the Lichtenberg Family Foundation, 2002.12.1, © 2000 Arion Press

Artwork Details

Title
Cane, by Jean Toomer, illustrated with woodcuts by Martin Puryear
Artist
Author
Printer
The Arion Press
Publisher
The Arion Press
Date
2000
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
11 3⁄4 x 14 1⁄8 x 1 1⁄4 in. (29.8 x 35.9 x 3.2 cm)
Copyright
© 2000 Arion Press
Credit Line
Gift of Linda Lichtenberg Kaplan and museum purchase through the Lichtenberg Family Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
leather bound book with letter press text and woodcut illustrations, in wooden slipcase
Classifications
Keywords
  • Object — written matter — book
Object Number
2002.12.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2002.12.1

Artwork Description

Cane, by Jean Toomer, is a book of prose and poetry and a masterpiece of African-American literature by one of the leading writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Leon Litwack, a historian of the black experience in America, writes: Even in the absence of narrative continuity, Cane has a cohesion, an aesthetic unity, a thread that binds the various vignettes and stories together. The pieces can stand alone, but their diversity is very much a part of the story – a large story about the meaning of being black in America.
Puryear is well known as a sculptor in wood; he designed the wooden box for this artist’s book.

Multiplicity, 2011