Horse and Rider

Riding a horse is a noble act in West Africa, signaling the arrival of a warrior or leader. This Dogon rider is likely a founding father who hurtled down to earth on a rainbow, but crashed on impact. His broken limbs turned into working joints as he set out in search of land to cultivate.

Wood

14 3/8 x 3 7/8 x 12 1/4 in. (36.5 x 9.8 x 31.1 cm)

Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company

81.17.46

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke a Back, February 7, 2002-April 30, 2006

Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, African Tribal Images: the Katherine White Reswick Collection, July 10-September 1, 1968; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The University of Pennsylvania, October 10-December 1, 1968

Los Angeles, California, Frederick S Wight Gallery, University of California, African Art In Motion, January 20-March 17, 1974; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., April 21-July 30, 1974.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Praise Poems: The Katherine White Collection, July 29-September 29, 1984; Washington, D.C., National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, , October 31, 1984-February 25, 1985; Raleigh, North Carolina, April 6-May 19, 1985; Fort Worth, Texas, The Kimbell Art Museum, September 7-November 25, 1985; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, March 8-April 20, 1986.

Published ReferencesMcClusky, Pamela, Art from Africa: Long Steps Never Broke A Back, Seattle Art Museum, 2002, pg. 42

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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