Bark of the Timber, Fog of the Night
| Artist | Thornton Dial (American, 1928–2016) |
|---|---|
| Title | Bark of the Timber, Fog of the Night |
| Date | 1995 |
| Medium | Mixed media on canvas mounted to board |
| Dimensions | Overall: 42 x 43 x 9 in. (106.7 x 109.2 x 22.9 cm) |
| Credit Line | Museum purchase with funds from the Cynthia L. and William E. Simon, Jr. Art Acquisition Fund, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 2012.43 |
| This artwork is currently off display. You may be able to see this artwork by filling out an art viewing room request. | |
Abstracted composition made of found objects. Two forms suggestive of figures are bound to the support with wire mesh.
Thornton Dial was a self-taught artist from rural Alabama who made a successful transition to the “mainstream” American art world in his later years. His assemblages visually recall traditions of southern, African American folk art that rely on found or recycled objects, but also evoke works from the modernist canon, such as the assemblages of Kurt Schwitters. While many of Dial’s found-object assemblages reference contemporary events such as 9/11 and the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, others comment on his experience of life in the segregated South. In this work, bark figures are literally bound to the work’s support with wire mesh, suggesting the literal and metaphorical confinement of slavery and segregation.
Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.
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"Bark of the Timber, Fog of the Night | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2012.43