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Glorified One

Photo: Rob Vinnedge

Glorified One

1945

Leo Kenney

born 1925, Spokane, Washington; died Seattle, Washington, 2001

Kenney said that his source for this subject was a movement from Igor Stravinsky’s orchestral piece for ballet, Rite of Spring—the movement Stravinsky called “The Glorification of the Chosen One,” in which a young maid is chosen by fate as a sacrifice to the gods. Yet, Kenney was well-versed in Christian scripture and might just as well have been invoking the idea of resurrection in the post-apocalyptic second coming of Christ. A creature appears to live within stone, the one remaining sign of life in a landscape of complete destruction, perhaps a symbol of hope—or it may represent the final sacrifice to plead for peace and renewal.

Egg tempera on composite board
12 x 16 in. (30.5 x 40.6 cm)
Gift of the Estate of Mr. Edward Thomas
85.199
Provenance: Edward B. Thomas, Seattle.
Photo: Rob Vinnedge
location
Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Bumbershoot 1986, Eccentric Satellites, August 29-September 1, 1986.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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