<I>Answer to Van Gogh</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1987
name: label: Created by
content: Bert Long Jr., American, 1940 - 2013
notes: label: Description
content: A mixed media artwork titled “Answer to Van Gogh” by Bert Long, Jr.
label: Description
content: The large, rectangular work has metal mesh and hydrostone plaster applied to the top surface to form a wide frame for the canvas painting at the center. The frame is painted with a variety of bright, overlapping colors, some in an abstract form or in a pattern of vertical and horizontal lines (top of frame). Along the bottom frame are marker-like inscriptions including a smile, letters [Hhaaaaaa] and a red heart. On the left side of the frame is a wooden door on brass hinge with a brass knocker. The door opens to reveal a circular shape cut of out the frame with a piece of glass (or mirror) and a red and green light. The reverse of the door has been painted a bright red. On the right side of the frame is a glass doorknob in the middle of an open-end down horseshoe.
label: Description
content: The canvas at the center of the frame has a deep blue background with peaks painted in shades of deep yellow and orange. There are four shapes and symbols, from left to right: a painted blue eye, a heart formed by four broken mirror pieces, a painted pink and yellow brain-like form, and a right hand outlined in white with colorful splotches of paint on the inside.
label: Description
content: The artwork is signed twice, once in the front in the lower left corner of the canvas [B 86] and once on the back of the canvas in graphite [Bert Long Jr 1986]. A wood panel on the back lists in black marker [ACRY + PYPOROSTONE CANVAS Poly RESIN].
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2024.15
objectType: label: Type
content: works of art
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Estate of Bert L. Long Jr.
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: mixed media: canvas, steel mesh, wood, iron, hydrostone plaster, paint, polyester resin, silicone caulk, mirrored glass, brass, wire
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 18 × 46 1/2 × 5 in. (45.7 × 118.1 × 12.7 cm)