The farewell tour

Mark Ostow

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Titus Kaphar
Shadows of Liberty
2016
Oil and rusted nails on canvas
Purchased with a gift from Ellen and Stephen Susman ’62

In the African art galleries, we have Congolese power figures that were used by people who would bring their problems to the village medicine man. You often see these figures with little nails tapped into them. Each nail affixes an object to the figure that is symbolic of a problem that requires remedy. Titus Kaphar took that same idea to this large portrait of George Washington—and he tapped these nails in. Each one of these names [on the strips of canvas] comes from the ledger books of Washington’s plantation. They’re names of the slaves he owned. 

So, this is a contemporary portrait of the Washington we’ve revered. This is another way to look at Washington—to make evident that he was complicit in something that we now think of as one of the greatest injustices in the history of our country. Something like this painting can exist very comfortably in a teaching museum. This is a place where students are talking about these issues.