Images(2)

Crucifix of Carved Stone

DateProbably 1932-1937

Attributed to William Edmondson (1870?-1951)

OriginAmerica, Tennessee, Nashville

MediumLimestone

DimensionsOverall: 24 3/8 x 17 x 4 5/8in. (61.9 x 43.2 x 11.7cm) Weight: approximately 65 pounds

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1971.907.1

DescriptionA stylized crucifix carved from a porous unfinished pale gray stone. It rests on an integral base. The stone is unfinished showing tool marks overall with heavier carving marks visible on the reverse.
Label TextWilliam Edmondson earned a reputation as a creative tinkerer, one who could fix almost anything. Even so, many laughed at him in 1931 or 1932 when, without instruction or experience, he began cutting limestone as directed, he said, by God. Edmondson's tombstones and assorted figural pieces are characterized by a minimum of representational detail, as illustrated by the simplified facial features, hands, and feet of this crucifix. The abstraction of the piece's overall form is also typical of Edmondson's work. The artist was recognized by a one-man show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1937, although he remained relatively unknown many years later. Only recently has Edmondson gained consideration as one of the outstanding folk sculptors of the first half of the twentieth century.

One of four known versions of the crucifixion theme attributed to Edmonds, this sculpture differs from the others in size and in the contrast between the smoothly finished figure of Christ and the rough, chiseled cross and base. Still, Edmondson's Christ is one with the cross, and both seem to emerge from the limestone. This unity is evidence of Edmondson's carving mastery and accounts for the vitality of his expressive forms.

Rather than showing Christ surrendering to death. Edmondson created a figure who seems to challenge both death and the viewer.