Fences: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A linocut likely inspired by August Wilson’s play “Fences.” Depicted are three figures in an urban neighborhood. In the left foreground, a man and a woman face each other on porch steps leading to a small yard surrounded by other multi-storied houses. The man holds a baseball bat in one hand. Near the center of the print, is a large image of a uniformed male figure, next to another figure standing behind a fence. There are barrels sitting on the ground in the right corner, next to a vine growing up the corner of a brick building. At the top right side of the background there are clouds in the sky. The title of the print [Fences] is written in pencil on the bottom left corner with [a/p] written on the bottom center. The print is signed [James L Wells ‘90] on the bottom right corner in pencil.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1990
• Created by: James Lesesne Wells, American, 1902 - 1993
• Subject of: August Wilson, American, 1945 - 2005
• Type: linocuts
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 12 1/4 × 17 1/8 in. (31.1 × 43.5 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Art
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2023.111.110.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Linda Grant-Wells on Behalf of the Wells Family.
• 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: © Estate of James Lesesne Wells Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.