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Copyright
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This Beginning of Miracles

Accession Number
1953/1.36

Title
This Beginning of Miracles

Artist(s)
Corita

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1953

Medium & Support
Screenprint on paper

Dimensions
15 1/2 in x 19 1/2 in (39.37 cm x 49.53 cm);22 1/16 in x 28 1/16 in (56.04 cm x 71.28 cm);16 1/16 in x 20 1/16 in (40.8 cm x 50.96 cm);15 1/2 in x 19 1/2 in (39.37 cm x 49.53 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Subject matter
Sister Mary Corita belonged to the Order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She completed her Master's in Art History from the University of Southern California in 1951. Her early work was very much focused on religious text and icons. The two figures here may represent the wedding couple at Cana. The title of the print is "The Beginning of Miracles" and the transformation of water into wine at the Marriage at Cana is the first miracle of Jesus, from the Gospel of John. In the 1960s, Sister Mary Corit's work turned toward the poster style popular at the time. Sister Mary Corita was a social justice activist, and she used her art to address social and political issues. 

Physical Description
This complex print is composed of a collection of vignettes, loosely arranged in rows. The colors used in this print are pink and green, and different shades of golden tan. Two large figures are positioned side by side, slightly off center, their heads in the upper register. They have long hair and wear pink and green crowns, and hold pink and green decorative chalices. Both wear draped clothing. Behind them are smaller figures also dressed in draped clothing, in a variety of scenes, and engaged in different activities. Some are gathered in groups, a pair of men face each other, two people sit next to each other, and several pink chairs are grouped together.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
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Keywords
Roman Catholicism
chalices (liturgical vessels)
crowns (headdresses)
figures (representations)
glasses
miracles
modern and contemporary art
nuns
religions (belief systems, cultures)
standing

1 Related Resource

Christian New Testament
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)

& Author Notes

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