Satisfied Man

2015

Satisfied Man, 2015. Kerry James Marshall (American, b. 1955). Woodcut; image: 61 x 46 cm (24 x 18 1/8 in.); sheet: 71 x 56 cm (27 15/16 x 22 1/16 in.); framed: 80 x 62.9 cm (31 1/2 x 24 3/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchased with funds donated by Scott Mueller 2019.35 © Kerry James Marshall Satisfied Man is a woodcut print depicting a happy, fulfilled individual. The work’s subject relates to the figurative iconography in Marshall’s widely celebrated paintings. As the artist explains, “it has become clear to me that few images circulate in art of self-satisfied Black subjects. No trauma, no anxiety, not stoic, not an image of dignity, just satisfied.” Marshall used two different layers of heavy dark ink in order to add a distinctive tactile dimension to the print’s surface.