Untitled (Male Figure with Haint)
Nellie Mae Rowe
American, 1900–1982
Details
Title
Untitled (Male Figure with Haint)
Artist/Maker
Nellie Mae Rowe (American, 1900–1982)
Date
before 1978
Medium
Crayon and pencil on folder divider
Dimensions
Support/Overall: 11 x 8 1/2 inches (27.9 cm x 21.6 cm) Framed/Mounted: 21 1/4 x 17 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches (54 cm x 43.8 cm x 3.2 cm)
Credit
Gift of Judith Alexander
Accession #
1998.95
On View
Currently not on view
The figure on the left in this drawing is a “haint,” or haunt, a Gullah dialect word for a type of evil spirit or being. Tales of haints flourished in the Gullah culture of the South Carolina Lowcountry but are also found in other regions of the South. “Haint blue” is a pale, green-tinted shade of blue meant to mimic the appearance of sky or water and often painted on the ceilings and around doors and windows on Southern houses to ward off these unfriendly spirits. The male figure in this composition sports a boastful expression next to a paradoxically blue haint with crazed eyes, indicating that the man has somehow outsmarted the trickster spirit.
Image Copyright
© Estate of Nellie Mae Rowe/High Museum of Art, Atlanta.
More from this Artist
Browse Related Artwork

Kris Graves

Evelyn Massengill

Kristine Potter

Barbara Peacock

Evelyn Massengill

Evelyn Massengill

Rahim Fortune

Rahim Fortune

Evelyn Massengill

Kristine Potter

Evelyn Massengill

Paul Mpagi Sepuya