Masks

William McBride

1941 · Screenprint · Modern and Contemporary Art

McBride, an important figure in the Chicago art scene of the 1930s and 1940s, was one of many African American artists who looked to the traditional arts of Africa for inspiration. Here, he combines linear drawings of African ancestral and reliquary figures into a flattened, abstract composition. The small zigzags and hatch marks on the figures recur in the patterning that spills across the background, creating a dynamic play of negative and positive space, enlivened by careful touches of bright red. McBride later recounted that works like this were inspired in part by African textiles, which he first saw reproduced in magazines in the 1930s.

Artist

William McBride

Date

1941

Medium

Screenprint

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999