Study for Support
| Artist | Darius Steward (American, b. 1984) |
|---|---|
| Title | Study for Support |
| Date | 2018 |
| Medium | Watercolor on paper |
| Dimensions | Image: 10 1/16 × 8 7/8 in. (25.6 × 22.5 cm) Sheet (Left edge is uneven): 10 1/16 × 8 7/8 in. (25.6 × 22.5 cm) |
| Credit Line | Museum purchase with funds from the Estate of Herman B Wells via the Joseph Granville and Anna Bernice Wells Memorial Fund, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University |
| Accession Number | 2019.54 |
| This artwork is currently off display. You may be able to see this artwork by filling out an art viewing room request. | |
This color image depicts a dark-skinned woman with black hair in a blue patterned dress in the upper left corner, seen at a sharp angle. She leans over and grasps the uplifted hands of a small, dark-skinned boy in the bottom center. He is shown in profile and is only visible from the neck up.
Simultaneously personal and political, Darius Steward’s work invites conversation on contemporary social issues while meditating on his own childhood. He grew up in an impoverished, crime-ridden neighborhood in Cleveland, but with his mother’s encouragement pursued art education and received his MFA at the University of Delaware. People from his family and community often appear in his watercolors and urban wall murals, such as in this study for Support (the first work by Steward in our collection). Using his wife and son as surrogates for his mother and himself as a young boy, Steward explores how women can lift up their children’s lives and offers a positive message for the entire community.
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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"Study for Support | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2019.54