Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America
MODERN & CONTEMPORARY GALLERY
Prophets and ghosts appear during times of great change. Beginning in the late 19th century, a rapidly modernizing United States prompted artists to visualize and even embody these figures. This imagery came with the growth of secular spirituality and a decline in organized religion among Americans. As a result, spirituality and artistic responses to it helped Americans cope with the effects of modern warfare, the growth of industry, and the advancement of new technologies.
Artists have long been considered holders of sacred knowledge in their ability to visualize the world around them, and sometimes, they served as mediums of the unseen. William H. Mumler and his photographs of alleged spirits gained popularity as a grieving population sought to connect with loved ones lost in the Civil War. In the 20th century, artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Hitchcock were photographed as prophetic or religious figures for their abilities to visualize modernizing American landscapes.
In some cases, the contemporary artists in this exhibition counter how spiritual imagery has been historically used; in others, they embrace it. David Hammons’ The Holy Bible: Old Testament manipulates the sacred book to critique the long-held notion of ordained artistic genius, while Dario Robleto’s audio reel invokes ghosts to ask, who are the recorders of the past? In these ways, motifs of religion, ghosts, and spirituality continue to haunt artists in responding to changing times.
This exhibition is organized by Julianne Miao, Curatorial Assistant.
TOP: Unknown, Laying the Ghost, 1870s. Albumen silver print, 3 1/2 × 6 7/8 inches (8.89 × 17.46 cm). Collection of Dr. James (H.S.’84 ’85) and Jane Finch, L.30.2023.1. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Erika Stone, Alfred Hitchcock, 1950s (printed later). Gelatin silver print, 10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.32 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Charles (A.B.’84) and Linda Googe, 2021.30.32. © Erika Stone.
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William H. Mumler, Mrs. W.H. Mumler, Clairvoyant Physician, 1870s, carte-de-visite albumen print, 4 1/8 x 2 1/2 in. (10.5 x 6.3 cm), image: 3 3/4 x 2 1/4 in. (9.5 x 5.7 cm) Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ackland Fund, 2014.24
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Todd Webb, Welfare Island from 59th St. Bridge, New York, 1946. Vintage gelatin silver print, 15 x 18 3/4 inches (38.1 x 47.625 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Charles (A.B.’84) and Linda Googe, 2020.21.35. © Todd Webb Archive, Portland, Maine USA.
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Unknown Photographer, Saint Mark’s Basilica, Venice, c. 1860s. Vintage albumen print from a collodion negative, 11 × 13 1/4 inches (27.94 × 33.66 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Charles (A.B.’84) and Linda Googe, 2019.17.119.B.
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Fritz Henle, New York City skyline with Empire State Building, c. 1950. Vintage gelatin silver print flush mounted to a later board, 6 1/2 x 9 3/4 inches (16.51 x 24.765 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Charles (A.B.’84) and Linda Googe, 2021.30.180. © Fritz Henle Estate.
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Diego Camposeco, Zulma from the series Transterrestria, 2014 (printed 2021). Archival ink print, 22 7/8 × 30 inches (58.1 × 76.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Museum purchase, 2021.11.1. © Estate of Diego Camposeco. Image courtesy of the artist’s estate.
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Dario Robleto, A Phantom Attempts to Sing as She Once Did on Earth, 2004. Carved de carbonized bone dust, dehydrated bone calcium, ground amino acids, reel to reel audio loop of a female ghost humming a lullaby made from an E.V.P. recording (Electronic Voice Phenomena: voices and sounds from the past, detected through magnetic audiotape) recorded at a Civil War reenactment at Gettysburg, melted bullet lead, rust, velvet, mahogany, fir, water extendable resin, and typeset; 11 × 2 × 11 inches (27.94 × 5.08 × 27.94 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Blake Byrne, A.B.’57, 2009.12.1. © Dario Robleto.
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Berenice Abbott, Yuban Warehouse, New York, 1936. Gelatin silver print, 18 3/8 x 23 3/8 inches (46.6725 x 59.3725 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Peter Daniel Ocko and Kathryn Axelrod in memory of Professor Jonathan K. Ocko, 2022.30.3. © Estate of Berenice Abbott.
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Artist Unknown, Arena, Verona, c. 1870s. Vintage albumen print from a collodion negative mounted on album page, 9 1/2 × 12 1/2 inches (24.1 × 31.8 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Charles (A.B.’84) and Linda Googe, 2017.16.82.
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Installation view of Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America, January 27 – May 19, 2024. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Installation view of Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America, January 27 – May 19, 2024. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Installation view of Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America, January 27 – May 19, 2024. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Installation view of Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America, January 27 – May 19, 2024. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Installation view of Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America, January 27 – May 19, 2024. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Installation view of Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America, January 27 – May 19, 2024. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Installation view of Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America, January 27 – May 19, 2024. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Quinby.
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Installation view of Modern Prophets: Art and Spirituality in America, January 27 – May 19, 2024. Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Photo by Brian Quinby.
