Collection
/
Contemporary Art

New Veteran's Day

Thornton Dial

Object Label

 Using modest materials such as car carpet, wood, and wire, Dial constructs sweeping allegorical artworks like New Veteran’s Day, which recasts the honorific military holiday in the light of the reality of racism and mistreatment suffered by many Black veterans. Made when the artist was in his 70s and experiencing significant, if delayed, art-world attention, New Veteran’s Day is a powerful example of Dial’s large-scale formal abstraction charged with political content. Nearby, Dial’s colorful drawings of women at work and in contemplation explore the daily experiences of women in Alabama.

Caption

Thornton Dial (American, 1928–2016). New Veteran's Day, 2004. Woven rugs, carpet, cotton rags/shirts, velvet, wood (plywood, composite, solid wood, hollow core door), tin cans, nails, enamel, and spray paint, plastic, galvanized steel, wire, electrical cord, staples., overall: 86 × 73 × 16 in., 228 lb. (218.4 × 185.4 × 40.6 cm, 103.42kg) storage (with t-frame): 93 × 89 × 16 in., 440 lb. (236.2 × 226.1 × 40.6 cm, 199.58kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018, 2018.28.1.

Gallery

Not on view

Title

New Veteran's Day

Date

2004

Medium

Woven rugs, carpet, cotton rags/shirts, velvet, wood (plywood, composite, solid wood, hollow core door), tin cans, nails, enamel, and spray paint, plastic, galvanized steel, wire, electrical cord, staples.

Classification

Sculpture

Dimensions

overall: 86 × 73 × 16 in., 228 lb. (218.4 × 185.4 × 40.6 cm, 103.42kg) storage (with t-frame): 93 × 89 × 16 in., 440 lb. (236.2 × 226.1 × 40.6 cm, 199.58kg)

Inscriptions

There are two lables on the verso, one from the Museum of Fine Arts Houson, and one from the Souls Grown Deep foundation. If there is an artist signature, it is not located in a conspicuous position.

Credit Line

Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018

Accession Number

2018.28.1

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Artists and makers

Thornton Dial

6 works in the collection