Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe

 

Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe

 

Peace


A profile-facing figure drawn in brown pencil and wearing a blue cap is seated in a blue boat holding an oar within a busy natural background including a large scaly fish.

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Object Details


Artist/Maker

Nellie Mae Rowe, American, 1900–1982

Date

1978

Medium

Crayon and colored pencil on paper

Dimensions

19 x 24 inches

Credit

Gift of Judith Alexander

Accession #

2003.171

Image Copyright

© Estate of Nellie Mae Rowe/High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Description

A devout Christian and lover of nature, Nellie Mae Rowe held beliefs about earthbound harmony that often manifested in imagery typical of a biblical heaven. In this drawing, Rowe illustrates her idyllic vision of peace with a placid yet technicolor sea, verdant fields of flowers, and a heavenly sunrise. With the large fish in the middle of the image and the holy hand in the upper right corner, Rowe indicates that the peace granted to earthly creatures is distinctly one of God’s making.