Yielding to the Ancestors While Controlling the Hands of Time

Lonnie Holley, Yielding to the Ancestors While Controlling the Hands of Time, ca. 1992, oil on wood and metal, 108 1259 1221 34 in. (275.6151.155.2 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William Arnett, 1993.1.3

Artwork Details

Title
Yielding to the Ancestors While Controlling the Hands of Time
Date
ca. 1992
Dimensions
108 1259 1221 34 in. (275.6151.155.2 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of William Arnett
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on wood and metal
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — art object — sculpture
  • Allegory — time
Object Number
1993.1.3

Artwork Description

“I travel around to see,” the artist Lonnie Holley explains. “It’s like walking back in time, to walk along the ocean, the beach, to walk in the sand. I am not trying to find my own footsteps in the sand, but to put my own footsteps where my ancestors might have stepped.”

Holley sees himself as a link connecting his ancestors—brought to America as slaves—to future generations. He explains that he gave this sculpture two heads; one is earthly, the other spiritual. “As we develop our personness, we learn to yield to the ancestors and the history of learning, we develop that inner head, that second head, the keeper head; the embankment of all wisdom.”

Works by this artist (4 items)

John Wilde, Wildeview, 1985, lithograph on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Schmidt-Bingham Gallery, 1996.62, © 1985, John Wilde
Wildeview
Date1985
lithograph on paper
Not on view
John Wilde, 75 in 150 from the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Portfolio, 2001, aquatint and dry-point with select hand-coloring on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Janet Ann Bond Sutter and Thomas Henry Sutter, 2008.10.1.14, © 2001, Andrew G. Balkin and Renee E.K. Balkin
75 in 150 from the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Portfolio
Date2001
aquatint and dry-point with select hand-coloring on paper
Not on view
John Wilde, Hats #2, 1988, silverpoint on prepared paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Elizabeth Stevens and Mrs. E. N. Vanderpoel, 1996.45
Hats #2
Date1988
silverpoint on prepared paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 1970.353.1-.116 - SAAM-1970.353.1-.116_9 - 127238
Galleries for Folk and Self-Taught Art
October 21, 2016January 31, 2030
SAAM’s collection of folk and self-taught art represents the powerful vision of America’s untrained and vernacular artists.

More Artworks from the Collection

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982, oil stick and waxed crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Sam Rose and Julie Walters, 2018.16
Untitled
Date1982
oil stick and waxed crayon on paper
Not on view
Jeff Donaldson, Victory in Zimbabwe, 1980, mixed media on cardboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum Purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2019.1, © 2018, Estate of Jeff Donaldson
Victory in Zimbabwe
Date1980
mixed media on cardboard
Not on view
"Prophet" Royal Robertson, Space Gun Drawing, n.d., pencil, marker, paint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.30
Space Gun Drawing
Daten.d.
pencil, marker, paint on paper
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Flora, 1970, drawing, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.371
Flora
Date1970
drawing
Not on view