<I>Do-Rag Brother</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1968
name: label: Created by
content: Vincent Dacosta Smith, American, 1929 - 2004
notes: label: Caption
content: Vincent Smith was best known for his skill in depicting the complex dynamics of race, resistance, and power during the turbulent decades of the 1960s and 1970s. This painting engages some of the era’s most salient social and political issues. The primary figure casually leans against a wall covered with graffiti phrases such as Vietnam, Black Power, and Soul Brother. The do-rag is a version of a headscarf used primarily by African American men at night to smooth kinky hair and create a wavy, more European texture. Smith’s decision to paint this man wearing a do-rag and surrounded by political terms suggests some of the many pressures faced by black men with regard to issues of patriotism, racial and economic injustice, self-empowerment, and black pride.
label: Description
content: This painting depicts two figures against a wall. The left side of the painting features a figure wearing a red shirt and green cap. A second figure with a goatee is shown in profile in the bottom right corner of the painting. The background of the painting is red and grey with words written in black. Some of the words in the background are "LATER", "SOUL BROTHER", "BLACK POWER", and "Vietnam". Written in black in the top right corner of painting is the signature "VINCENT/6/9."
place: label: Place made
content: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Men
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1961-1969
label: Topic
content: Urban life
label: Topic
content: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
label: Movement
content: Black Power (Black Pride)
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: 2014.130.1
objectType: label: Type
content: oil paintings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Estate of Vincent DaCosta Smith, Courtesy Alexandre Gallery, New York
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: oil and sand on linen
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (painting): 29 1/2 × 24 in. (74.9 × 61 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (frame): 31 × 25 1/4 × 1 1/2 in. (78.7 × 64.1 × 3.8 cm)