55

John McCrady

(American/Mississippi, 1911-1968)

"Swing Low Sweet Chariot", 1941

lithograph on paper
initialed in stone "J.McC." lower right, and pencil-signed, titled and numbered "ed. of 12" in lower margin. "New Orleans Museum of Art" exhibition label en verso of mat board.
Matted and unframed.
sheet 15" x 19", matted 20" x 24"

  • Provenance: Estate of John McCrady, New Orleans, Louisiana; Downtown Gallery, Naomi Marshall, New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • Exhibited: New Orleans Museum of Art, John McCrady 1911-1968, Retrospective, 1975, illus. in catalog #65, p. 104.

    The son of an Episcopalian minister, John McCrady often reflected on the struggle of the soul descending into either heaven or hell in his artwork. Based on a painting by the same name in the St. Louis Art Museum, Swing Low Sweet Chariot depicts a heaven-sent chariot surrounded by angels who have arrived to gather a soul, while another angel engages in a fierce battle with a trident-wielding devil.

    In the next lot, Heaven Bound, the devil tempts a woman with a string of pearls while an angel hovers above them. In the foreground, a dead woman, face down on the ground outside her shabby home, and a lightning-stricken tree ominously forebode the eventual success of the devil.
  • Condition: **No signs of past restorations. Toning of the paper. Remnants of tape and brown paper hinge along edge. Uneven lower edge (inherent to paper). Two hinges affixed to top edges en verso. Slight rippling of paper. Scattered, small brown stains. Matted and unframed.

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