Youth (Head in Wood)

ca. 1930

At a time when there were few professional African American artists, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet trained at the Rhode Island School of Design and carved powerful sculptures in hardwood, such as Untitled (Head). The artist, who endured decades of poverty and hunger in order to pursue her career, produced works characterized by somber dignity and idealized but expressive facial features. This sculpture is one of only about a dozen known works by Prophet still in existence.