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Roger Medearis, Godly Susan, 1941, egg tempera on board, 27 5⁄8 x 23 5⁄8 in. (70.1 x 60.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Roger and Elizabeth Medearis, 1992.84
Copied
Artwork Details
- Title
- Godly Susan
- Artist
- Date
- 1941
- Location
- Dimensions
- 27 5⁄8 x 23 5⁄8 in. (70.1 x 60.0 cm.)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Roger and Elizabeth Medearis
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- egg tempera on board
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Portrait female — Medearis, Susan Carns — elderly
- Landscape — farm
- Architecture — religious — church
- Object Number
- 1992.84
Artwork Description
This portrait memorializes artist Roger Medearis's beloved grandmother Susan Carns Medearis.
The artist used the sunporch of his father's church as a makeshift studio to create detailed sketches of his grandmother, who had suffered a stroke several years earlier. Here, she holds a lemon, whose sour taste she enjoyed, in her strong left hand, contrasting the paralyzed right side of her body.
The title reflects Susan's role as the daughter and granddaughter of Baptist ministers and the mother of three more. Born in the early days of the Civil War, she lived through one of the most formative times in American history. She died only months after this portrait was finished.