John Biggers
The Cradle

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Artist John Biggers (American, 1924–2001)American, 1924–2001

CultureAmerican

Titles

The Cradle

Date1950

PlaceHouston, Texas, United States

MediumConté crayon on paper board

DimensionsSheet: 22 3/8 × 21 1/2 in. (56.9 × 54.6 cm)

Credit Line25th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition, museum purchase prize, 1950

Object number50.1

Not on view

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Department

Prints and Drawings

Object Type

DRAWINGS, PASTELS & WATERCOLORS

DescriptionRecognized by New York’s Museum of
Modern Art as early as 1943, John Biggers
was a new force on the Texas scene in 1950,
having recently joined the faculty of Texas
Southern University, a historically Black
university. The Cradle was featured in the
Museum’s 25th Annual Houston Artists Exhibition
that year, where it was awarded the annual
purchase prize and became the first work
by an artist of African descent to enter the
collection. However, the Museum, like nearly
all civic and cultural institutions in Houston
at the time, strictly regulated admission in
line with Jim Crow laws, and Biggers was
excluded from the exhibition opening. Using
this egregious injustice as an example, the
director James Chillman forced the board
of trustees to fully open the Museum to
People of Color.
The Cradle portrays a mother sheltering her
children, a theme that Biggers returned to
frequently. He later described the mother
figure as “a mountain of refuge, ravaged by
time, yet remaining both strong and tender—
protecting life—poised to absorb hostility
without flinching.”
ProvenanceThe artist; purchased by the museum, 1950.
Exhibition History"25th Annual Exhibition of Works by Houston Artists," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 12—26, 1950.

Houston Public Library, Houston, February 13—25 1967.

Hemisfair Project, San Antonio, April 6—July 15, 1968.

Texas A&M University, November 10—28, 1975.

"Black American Artists 1750-1950," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, September 28—November 21, 1976. Traveled to: High Museum of Art, Atlanta, December 28, 1976— February 29, 1977; Detroit Institute for the Arts, March 29—May 22, 1977; Brooklyn Museum, June 28—September 5, 1977.

"1980 Houston Area Exhibition," Sarah Campbell Blaffer Gallery, The University of Houston, June 7—July 27, 1980.

"Images of Texas," Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, The University of Texas at Austin, February 25—April 10, 1983. Traveled to: Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, July 1—August 14, 1983; Amarillo Art Center, September 3—October 30, 1983.

"Tradition and Innovation: A Museum Celebration of Texas Art," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 17—May 6, 1990.

"The Art of John Biggers: View from the Upper Room"; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 3—September 3, 1995, cat. 41. Traveled to: North Carolina Museum of Art, October 14, 1996—January 14, 1996; Wadsworth Antheneum, May 19—September 10, 1996; Hampton University Art Museum, October 6—December 10, 1996; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 24—April 20, 1997.

"African-American Art in the Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston", Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 22—May 9, 2004.

"Houston Collects: African American The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Upper Brown Pavilion, July 31—October 26, 2008.

"Statements: African American Art from the Museum's Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Millennium Gallery, January 24—May 23, 2016.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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