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Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Artist John McCrady (American, 1911–1968)
Title Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Date 1941
Medium Lithograph on paper
Dimensions Image: 10 7/8 × 14 13/16 in. (27.6 × 37.6 cm)
Sheet: 13 5/16 × 17 3/4 in. (33.8 × 45.1 cm)
Credit Line Gift of Thomas T. Solley, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 68.123.25

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About this Work

Louisianan John McCrady found his visual voice in the images, stories, and songs of the rural black communities of the American South. This print was based on the 1937 painting (now in the Saint Louis Art Museum) that received critical acclaim in Time, Life, and the New Republic when it was exhibited in New York City.

Rather than depicting a musician playing the Negro spiritual of the title, McCrady visualized the lyrics of the song with a devil and an angel wrestling in the sky for the soul of the dying man.

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home

I looked over Jordan, and I what
did I see
Coming for to carry me home?
A band of angels coming after me
Coming for to carry me home


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.

Publisher Associated American Artists

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"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=68.123.25