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They Too

Mary T. Smith

Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

Mary T. Smith lived alone in a house on Highway 51 outside Hazlehurst, Mississippi. A domestic worker and former tenant farmer, she surrounded her home with paintings on wood and metal that depict people and personal spiritual texts. Informed by yard art traditions, nearby billboards, and her Christian beliefs, Smith’s painting installation was a form of divine conversation between its domestic, everyday characteristics and eternal glory.
MEDIUM Oil or acrylic on wood
DATES 1987
DIMENSIONS 32 × 24 in. (81.3 × 61.0 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 2018.37.4
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 Mary T. Smith (American, 1905–1995). They Too, 1987. Oil or acrylic on wood, 32 × 24 in. (81.3 × 61.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018, 2018.37.4. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , CUR.2018.37.4.jpg)
IMAGE overall, CUR.2018.37.4.jpg., 2018
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RIGHTS STATEMENT © artist or artist's estate
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Mary T. Smith (American, 1905–1995). <em>They Too</em>, 1987. Oil or acrylic on wood, 32 × 24 in. (81.3 × 61.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2018, 2018.37.4. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: , CUR.2018.37.4.jpg)