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Sacco and Vanzetti

Sacco and Vanzetti

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Rockwell Kent

Rockwell Kent painted this morbid portrait soon after the sensational 1927 execution by electrocution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. The two men were Italian immigrants and anarchists convicted of double murder in 1921, based on questionable evidence. The years following the First World War were a period of heightened nativism and anxiety over leftist politics. Kent, a socialist, was among the many Americans who believed that Sacco and Vanzetti were victims of anti-immigrant prejudice and were wrongfully convicted. For this composition, he drew upon art historical imagery of the head of Saint John the Baptist presented on a platter, implying that Sacco and Vanzetti were martyrs. Their peaceful expressions dramatically contrast with the dark red blood dripping from their necks.
Artist
Rockwell Kent
(American, 1882 - 1971)
Title
Sacco and Vanzetti
Date
1927
Medium
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions
15 5/8 x 20 in. Overall
Credit
Gift of Eugene and Beulah Link
Accession No.
1997.67
Classification
Paintings
Geography
United States

Related

After 1971, sold by [the artist’s wife] Sally Kent (Au Sable Forks, NY) to Eugene and Beulah Link (Medford, NJ); December 1997, gifted to the Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Beyond Likeness: Mapping the Self: Chazen Museum of Art, 2/19/2016–4/3/2016

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