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Painting by Faith Ringgold From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding is an oil on canvas painting made by American artist Faith Ringgold in 1967.[1] Widely cited as one of Ringgold's most iconic and pivotal works, the painting depicts a Black man, white woman, and white man interlocking arms inside the confines of an American flag dripping with blood, some of which is seemingly from a wound on the Black man's chest.[2] The Flag is Bleeding was painted toward the end of the American Civil Rights movement and explores themes of race, gender, and patriotism.[3]
| The American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding | |
|---|---|
The Flag is Bleeding in 2017 at the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris | |
| Artist | Faith Ringgold |
| Year | 1967 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 182.88 cm × 243.84 cm (72.00 in × 96.00 in) |
| Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
| Accession | 2021.28.1[1] |
The work shows three figures standing within the design of an American flag. On the left, a Black man in a black turtleneck holds his right hand over a bloody wound on his chest, in a gesture that recalls reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, while his left hand holds a bloody knife; on the right, a white man in a suit stands with his hands on his hips; in the center, a white woman in a cocktail dress is locking arms with the two men. The figures are variously obscured by the bars and stars of the flag; blood drips from the bars throughout the scene.
Ringgold was partly inspired by Jasper Johns' painting Flag (1954-1955).[4]
The Flag is Bleeding was acquired directly from Ringgold's collection by the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, D.C., in October 2021 with support from Glenstone in Potomac, Maryland.[3] NGA senior curator Harry Cooper said the acquisition "may well be the most important purchase of a single work of contemporary art" for the museum in over 45 years.[5]
Writing in caa.reviews about the work's showing at the Serpentine Galleries, Juliette Milbach wrote that the work considers "the complex relationship between race and national identity," and "makes a critical argument about the power of figuration," further noting that Ringgold was drawing on and extending a history of Black artists depicting "confrontations with the American flag."[6] Charles Moore observed in The Art Newspaper that "tension spills over into violence" in The Flag is Bleeding, like similar later works in The American People Series.[7] Victoria L. Valentine said in Culture Type that the work "makes a powerful political statement about American democracy and racism."[3]
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