Fulfilling yet Uneventful

Vaudeville, 1951, Jacob Lawrence

The Library, 1960, Jacob Lawrence

Hiroshima, Jacob Lawrence, 1983, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Prints and Drawings

binding: black cowhide, blind-stamped lettering; endpapers: black wove; slip case: black fabric over cardboard, stamped lettering in violet; type: Foundry Optima Medium John Hersey’s unembellished account of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan by American forces during the closing days of the Second World War (1939-1945) was first published in The New Yorker magazine in August 1946, one year after Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allies. Hersey based his story on interviews he conducted with six survivors of the blast in days and weeks after the detonation. It caused a national sensation when first published and is today widely noted as one of the finest pieces of journalism of the 20th century. It was later reissued in book form. In a series of boldly articulated full-page screenprints, Jacob Lawrence sympathetically captures the intense emotions and vivid impressions of Hersey’s account. Lawrence envisions the victim’s reaction to the moment of the “noiseless flash” of the blast on August 6, 1945, their imminent death presaged by the skeleton-like appearance of their bodies. Size: 12 ¾ x 9 ¾ in. (32.39 x 24.77 cm) Medium: Color screenprints from hand color-separated photo stencils, letterpress; bound volume

Page of Calligraphy, 19th century, Brooklyn Museum: Arts of the Islamic World

Size: 4 ½ x 7 5/16 in. (11.4 x 18.6 cm) Medium: Ink on cardboard

Statuette of a Girl, ca. 1390-1353 B.C.E., Brooklyn Museum: Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Small painted ivory statuette of a nude standing girl, wearing elaborately braided wig; suspension loop on the top of wig. Left arm held under breasts. Hair painted black; minute traces of red pigment on body. Condition: Practically perfect. Necklace missing. Two minute holes just above pelvis suggest figure may have worn a belt or girdle. Size: 3 ¼ x 5/8 in. (8.3 x 1.6 cm) Medium: Ivory, pigment

Chair (Chitwamo or Njunga), Chokwe, 1875, Art Institute of Chicago: Arts of Africa

This miniature wooden chair would have been owned and used by a chief or dignitary. Designed for easy transportation, its form and construction derive from 17th-century Portuguese imports. Three-dimensional sculptures on the rungs and on the top of the seatback typically relate to Chokwe everyday life and mythology. The sculpted head that crowns this seatback represents a chihongo mask: a symbol of wealth, virility, and authority. Winter and Hirsch Fund Size: H. 50.8 cm (20 in.) Medium: Wood, brass tacks, and hide

Snakeman, Robert Mapplethorpe, 1981, Tate

ARTIST ROOMS Acquired jointly with the National Galleries of Scotland through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008 Size: support: 441 x 342 mm Medium: Photograph, gelatine silver print on paper

Mask, Brooklyn Museum: Arts of the Pacific Islands

Size: height: 16 in. (40.6 cm) Medium: Woven straw, pigment