Woman in Profile (Young Girl of African Descent)

Georgette Seabrooke Powell

1933 · Linocut · Modern and Contemporary Art

Powell studied at Cooper Union in New York, and gained early success from her work for the Federal Art Project, including murals she painted at Harlem Hospital that still stand today. Powell was a practicing art therapist for much of her life, and her own artwork has recently garnered renewed attention. At age seventeen, she created this striking composition of a poised young woman in profile against the orb of a full moon. The figure is surrounded by abstracted foliage and fruits that echo her jewelry and pendant earring. Here, the subject’s African heritage becomes a central component in Powell’s vision of modernism.

Artist

Georgette Seabrooke Powell

Date

1933

Medium

Linocut

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999