Fan

Sister Gertrude Morgan, Fan, ca. 1970, paint and ink on card, 9 34 × 8 12 in. (24.8 × 21.6 cm) irregular, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.43R-V

Artwork Details

Title
Fan
Date
ca. 1970
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
9 34 × 8 12 in. (24.8 × 21.6 cm) irregular
Credit Line
The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
Mediums Description
paint and ink on card
Classifications
Subjects
  • Religion — angel
  • Object — written matter — book
  • Figure female — full length
  • Occupation — medicine — nurse
  • African American
  • Landscape
  • Architecture
  • Figure group
Object Number
2016.38.43R-V

Artwork Description

Sister Gertrude Morgan fashioned paper fans like this one for people to use during prayer meetings at her Everlasting Gospel Mission. During her services, Morgan sang, played guitar or tambourine, and encouraged a call-and-response singing style among attendees. On one side of this fan, Morgan painted a scene of New Jerusalem, a symbolic, heavenly city for the devout, described in the Book of Revelation. On the front-facing side, Morgan depicted herself in nurse’s clothing, conveying her self-chosen role as a spiritual healer of the soul.
(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Works by this artist (9 items)

Edward Hopper, Ryder's House, 1933, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Henry Ward Ranger through the National Academy of Design, 1981.76
Ryder’s House
Date1933
oil on canvas
On view
Edward Hopper, People in the Sun, 1960, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., 1969.47.61
People in the Sun
Date1960
oil on canvas
On view
Edward Hopper, Cape Cod Morning, 1950, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.92
Cape Cod Morning
Date1950
oil on canvas
On view
Edward Hopper, (Standing Nude), n.d., charcoal on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Exchange with the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1972.16
(Standing Nude)
Daten.d.
charcoal on paper
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.38.43R-V - SAAM-2016.38.43R-V_2 - 126225
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection
July 1, 2022March 26, 2023
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection traces the rise of self-taught artists in the twentieth century and examines how, despite wide-ranging societal, racial, and gender-based obstacles, their creativity and