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Untitled

James "Son Ford" Thomas

Contemporary Art

 A blues musician and visual artist, James “Son Ford” Thomas made his portrait-like studies from unfired clay that he dug from various sites near his home, including the Mississippi River riverbed. Often adding wax or hair grease to stop the raw clay from cracking, the artist would sometimes bake his pieces in a fire before adding paint and found objects, such as the cigarette included here. Thomas, who also worked as gravedigger, saw his pieces as personal reflections on the people he knew in his community, as well as a commentary on the inevitability that “we all end up in the clay.”
MEDIUM Unfired clay, fiber (artificial hair), paper, tobacco (cigarette), glass (marbles), metal - iron alloy (pin) and white metal? (coin)
DATES 1987
DIMENSIONS overall: 8 1/2 × 7 1/4 × 10 3/4 in., 12 lb. (21.6 × 18.4 × 27.3 cm, 5.44kg)  (show scale)
INSCRIPTIONS James Thomas written into the back of the bust in the leather hard clay - after painting
COLLECTIONS Contemporary Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 2018.28.6
CREDIT LINE Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION James "Son Ford" Thomas (American, 1926–1993). Untitled, 1987. Unfired clay, fiber (artificial hair), paper, tobacco (cigarette), glass (marbles), metal - iron alloy (pin) and white metal? (coin), overall: 8 1/2 × 7 1/4 × 10 3/4 in., 12 lb. (21.6 × 18.4 × 27.3 cm, 5.44kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018, 2018.28.6. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , CUR.2018.28.6.jpg)
IMAGE overall, CUR.2018.28.6.jpg., 2018
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RIGHTS STATEMENT © artist or artist's estate
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James "Son Ford" Thomas (American, 1926–1993). <em>Untitled</em>, 1987. Unfired clay, fiber (artificial hair), paper, tobacco (cigarette), glass
(marbles), metal - iron alloy (pin) and white metal? (coin), overall: 8 1/2 × 7 1/4 × 10 3/4 in., 12 lb. (21.6 × 18.4 × 27.3 cm, 5.44kg). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018, 2018.28.6. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , CUR.2018.28.6.jpg)