Maasai Steppe Ascending - Convective Displacement

Object Details

Georgia Papageorge, born 1941, South Africa

Label Text

This painting is one of a series of works by the artist of Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, the world's tallest single free-standing peak. It incorporates actual volcanic rock from the crater and other areas of the mountain. The ladder reaches toward the heavens, a metaphor for a difficult ascent, though it is literally grounded in the earth.

Description

Rectangular vertical canvas with oil stick and graphite depiction of a ladder and suggestions of the continents of South America and Africa under layers of clouds and rock. A white capped peak at the top is connected by a red thread to pieces of volcanic rock at the bottom.

Exhibition History

Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue - From the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, November 7, 2014-January 24, 2016

Insights, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., February 27 to November 28, 2004

Georgia Papageorge: Kilimanjaro-Through the Barrier, Art First, London, October 6-29, 1998

Claiming Art / Reclaiming Space: Post Apartheid Art from South Africa, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 21-September 26, 1999

Published References

Kreamer, Christine Mullen and Adrienne L. Childs (eds). 2014. Conversations: African and African American Artworks in Dialogue from the Collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and Camille O. and William H. Cosby, Jr. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 201-202, 214, no. 97, pl. 113.

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 Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks.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/

Credit Line

Museum purchase

1997

Object number

98-19-1

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© 1997 Georgie Papageorge

Type

Painting

Medium

Oil stick and graphite on canvas with volcanic rock and cloth

Dimensions

H x W: 239 x 117 cm (94 1/8 x 46 1/16 in.)

Geography

South Africa

See more items in

National Museum of African Art Collection

National Museum of African Art

Record ID

nmafa_98-19-1

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ys737ec3119-40e9-41ee-a401-9f3c81f23186