Nancy Elizabeth Prophet on Exhibit, RI's Greatest Artist? - Inside Art with Michael Rose
Michael Rose, Art Columnist
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet on Exhibit, RI's Greatest Artist? - Inside Art with Michael Rose
Rhode Island has been home to many significant artists. For some, it was the place they were born and bred, and for others, it was a stopover while they studied at area universities. For Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, it was both. Born here in 1890, Prophet lived a remarkable life, studying and living in Europe and teaching art in the South before returning to Rhode Island, where she died in 1960. A newly opened exhibition at RISD, titled I Will Not Bend an Inch, compellingly explores the work and legacy of this multi-talented artist.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was born in Rhode Island to a Narragansett father and an African American mother. Both of these elements of her identity were of equal importance to her. The first person of color to graduate from RISD, she earned a degree in 1918. Prophet continued her studies in Paris in the 1920’s, honing her significant capabilities in sculpture and participating in the avant-garde movements that were stimulating the art community in Europe. In 1934, she returned to the United States and helped found the art program at Spelman College in Atlanta. After about a decade of teaching, she came back to Rhode Island. Throughout her life, she experienced racism, sexism, and financial difficulties but was undeterred in her single-minded pursuit of artistic excellence. I Will Not Bend an Inch explores all of these realities in depth.
While the heart of the exhibition is dedicated to an impressive lineup of Prophet’s sculptural work, the show also includes other fascinating materials including archival photographs, drawings, and even the sculptor’s tools. A timeline of Prophet’s life displayed at the start of the show helps to situate her in the span of the twentieth century and gives viewers who are new to her story the basics they need to know. The exhibition also nods to the impact Prophet has had on others, with a video installation by contemporary artist Simone Leigh.
Among the works on paper in the show, there are simple and refined contour drawings that use line as their language. These show the moderation that Prophet leveraged to create the powerful sculptures with which she is most often associated. Opposite these are a collection of vibrant and expressive watercolors that explore architecture and landscape. These pieces are almost Fauve in their palette and composition. In all of her work, Prophet’s modernist leanings are apparent. The easy way she had with bringing an avant-garde approach to well-worn subjects is evident and enjoyable to appreciate.
Black and white archival photographs on view in the gallery illustrate some of the works by the artist which have been lost while also documenting an element of her process. Because she was working in heavy three-dimensional materials like wood and stone, Prophet was diligent about documenting her work with photography. She patronized the same studio in Paris used by artists like Picasso and utilized the photos to keep track of her accomplishments.
Among the sculptural works on view, busts of strong and stoic figures exemplify Prophet’s interest in melding classical and modern forms while also serving as a testament to her own character as an art maker. Two sensitive relief carvings on wood add another dimension to Prophet’s oeuvre and illustrate her gift for design. One of the reliefs in the exhibition was recently purchased from a private collection and will now be available to RISD Museum visitors for years to come.
I Will Not Bend an Inch is not only an important and landmark exhibition for the RISD community and Rhode Island. After the show concludes here, it will travel first to the Brooklyn Museum and later to the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. This element of the exhibition promises to expand knowledge of Prophet’s artistic legacy. At a recent gallery talk, the exhibition’s three co-curators Sarah Ganz Blythe, Dominic Molon, and Kajette Solomon all stated a shared wish that heightened awareness of Prophet’s story might bring previously unseen artworks by her to light.
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet was a gifted modernist sculptor whose work should be better known to her fellow Rhode Islanders. Through the labor of the extensive curatorial team who worked on this compelling exhibition, her story is being told in full for the first time more than one hundred years after she graduated from RISD. Poignant and powerful, I Will Not Bend an Inch is a must-see exhibition.
