Proof sheet for My Brother the Wind album artwork: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A screen-printed proof sheet for the record album cover artwork “My Brother The Wind” by The Sun Ra Arkestra. The sheet is printed with red ink on white paper, with the design appearing in the negative white space within the application of red ink. At the top, text reads [SUN-RA / and his / ASTRO / INFINITY / ARKESTRA] on the left side and [MY BROTHER THE WIND] on the right side. Below the text is an illustration of a fantastical musician figure playing a keyboard with one hand while playing a curved horn instrument with the other. The bell of the horn faces the musician, with the force of the wind blowing the figure’s hair out into a swirling mass. Beneath the keyboard is an Egyptian ankh symbol inside a triangle. There are no markings on the reverse of the sheet.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1970
• Created by: The Sun Ra Arkestra, American
• Published by: El Saturn Records, American, founded 1957
• Subject of: Sun Ra, American, 1914 - 1993
• Type: proofs: prints
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 13 1/4 × 19 1/8 in. (33.7 × 48.6 cm)
• Place printed: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Music
• Object number: 2023.83.7
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © El Saturn Records Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.