Don't Hide Your Light Under a Bushel
Ned Cartledge
American, 1916–2001
Details
Title
Don't Hide Your Light Under a Bushel
Artist/Maker
Ned Cartledge (American, 1916–2001)
Date
1986
Medium
Wood and paint
Dimensions
20 3/8 x 23 1/2 x 1 inches
Credit
T. Marshall Hahn Collection
Accession #
1996.32
Ned Cartledge often said that his wood carvings were the result of provocation rather than inspiration. Here Cartledge was inspired by a passage from the Sermon on the Mount and provoked by a friend’s reluctance to display his artistic talent. Accusing his friend of hiding his light under a bushel, Cartledge inscribed the back of this panel, “Modesty is for those without talent.” As abstract as it is narrative, this work is uncharacteristic of Cartledge in that it conveys its point through visual metaphor rather than text. The sharply rendered basket seems to be lifted up by the light pouring out beneath it.