Museum object · Visual Arts
Message
2012
Smithsonian NMAAHC collection
Source catalog description
This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.
An abstract acrylic painting by Claude Lawrence. Depicted in ruddy hues of red, brown, grey, and pink against a bright blue, the painting features abstract shapes outlined in black. Several of the shapes resemble human facial and anatomical imagery, including a smiling mouth and chin at bottom left, several eyes, a phallic form at bottom right, and a standing, abstract human figure at the right side. The painting has deckled top and bottom edges. The verso has an inscription of [MeSSAGE] in the lower right corner. Beneath this is the artist’s signature with an additional identifier of [-12] beside it.
Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗
Sources & collection details
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗
Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13
Catalog reference: 2015.145.9
