Plate (folio 18) from Seven Passages to a Flight
Faith Ringgold
American, 1930–2024
1995
A plate from Faith Ringgold’s illustrated book that uses etching with hand-painted additions and pochoir on linen to tell a personal, family-centered story through image and text.
What hits you first is the jewel-toned, quiltlike geometric border and the vivid red double-page scene where three Black girls in patterned dresses dance beneath a boldly framed reproduction of the Mona Lisa, the flat, childlike painting style and bright colors making the page feel playful, intimate, and theatrical.
Ringgold’s hybrid books and story-quilts fuse fine art, craft, and narrative to center Black family life, question artistic hierarchies, and open new ways of telling visual stories for both children and adults.
Medium
Etching with hand additions and pochoir from an illustrated book with nine etchings with hand additions and pochoir on linen, including cover
Dimensions
composition: 8 15/16 × 14 15/16" (22.7 × 37.9 cm); sheet (each, irreg.): 9 1/8 × 7 5/8" (23.2 × 19.3 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
The Ralph E. Shikes Fund
Accession
717.1996.8
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
