Smooth-Going Cats and the Hard-Headed Goat
Folk and Self-Taught Art

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Smooth-Going Cats and the Hard-Headed Goat
Artwork Details
Artist/Maker
Thornton Dial, Sr.
American, 1928–2016
American, 1928–2016
Date
1990
Medium
Oil on canvas
Accession #
1997.61
Dimensions
Please contact the Museum for more information.
Location
Currently Not on View
Description
The dominant red, white, and blue paint on this canvas signifies the African American struggle for justice and equality on a national scale. Two writhing cats encircle a goat, a symbol of stubborn people who stand in the way of progress. “Plenty of peoples is hard-headed, like the goat,” Thornton Dial said. “That goes for all peoples being hard-headed and not paying attention to things.” Dial created this painting during a brief period when he was experimenting with oil paint without incorporating found objects.
Credit
T. Marshall Hahn CollectionImage Copyright
© 2017 Estate of Thornton Dial/Artists Rights Society (ARS) New York