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Spring Scrolls

Object Details

Label Text
In 1980, Boghossian began to play with the compositions, iconographies and colorings of Ethiopian talismanic parchment scrolls. Skunder creates a new pictorial order for these forms and endows the otherwise static scrolls with energy. His choice of color enlivens them, highlighting the intricacy and patterning of details. The results are strikingly different in palette and composition from earlier paintings on goatskins that often included mystical, Coptic and traditional Ethiopian imagery, Ge'ez and Amharic scripts, and bright, rich colors of reds, oranges and golds.
Description
Painting on a horizontal rectangular canvas, using acrylic paint and depicting eleven bright multicolored strips hanging from two orange rods against a white background covered with grey-green twisting forms.
Provenance
Alexander "Skunder" Boghossian, Washington, D.C., 1983-84 to 1991
Exhibition History
Healing Arts, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 2016 - June 26, 2019
Encounters with the Contemporary, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 7, 2001-January 6, 2002
Content Statement
As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
Image Requests
High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
Data Source
National Museum of African Art
Maker
Alexander "Skunder" Boghossian, 1937-2003, born Ethiopia
Date
1983-1984
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Medium
Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions
H x W: 128 x 182.2 cm (50 3/8 x 71 3/4 in.)
Type
Painting

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  • Signs of Spring
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