Raphael Soyer, 1969
At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC
"This is a young woman called Gypsy who had a child with a black man. I thought of this scene as mother and madonna. To me, she signifies the madonna of our times. Instead of a halo she has the sign for an atomic fallout shelter."I have a whole series of mother-and-child pictures from the Art museum, so perhaps it will be interesting to put them in contrast with each other. The quote above, from the artist, was repeated on page 71 of Milly Heyd's book, Mutual Reflections: Jews and Blacks in American Art, which in itself might be worth a read.