THER SHALL BE EARTH qUAKES

Howard Finster, THER SHALL BE EARTH qUAKES, 1976, enamel on fiberboard, 30 x 29 ⁵⁄₈ in. (76.2 x 75.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1988.74.8

Artwork Details

Title: THER SHALL BE EARTH qUAKES
Artist: Howard Finster
Date: 1976
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
3rd Floor
/
East Wing
Dimensions: 30 x 29 ⁵⁄₈ in. (76.2 x 75.2 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.
Mediums: enamel
Mediums Description: enamel on fiberboard
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Religion — Old Testament — prophet
Disaster — earthquake
Object Number: 1988.74.8
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1988.74.8

Artwork Description

In 1976, after some four decades of preaching, Howard Finster responded to a vision in which God directed him to "paint sacred art." Finster believed that pictures would help people grasp the enormity of the Word of God. His painted sermons on life, death, salvation, and damnation eventually covered almost every inch of Paradise Garden, his four-acre art environment in Summerville, Georgia.

His concerns about a world of suffering and destruction drove Finster to create the artworks he called "signposts to salvation." In this triptych, he depicts trials encountered in the Bible's Book of Revelations, conveying his belief that no matter what problems loomed, God would protect and deliver the faithful.