Accession Number
2010/1.205

Title
New Hope

Artist(s)
Corita

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1966

Medium & Support
screenprint on paper

Dimensions
29 3/4 in x 36 1/2 in (75.57 cm x 92.71 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Robert Cugno and Robert Logan

Subject matter
Sister Mary Corita addressed this print, which includes a poem by E.E. Cummings, "To the Lovings." This is a reference to Mildred and Richard Loving, an interracial married couple who, with the support of the ACLU, fought against Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws. In 1967, the Supreme Court decided that Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional (Loving v. Virginia).

Corita Kent, also known as Sister Mary Corita, gained international fame for her vibrant serigraphs during the 1960s and 1970s. A Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, she ran the Art Department at Immaculate Heart College until 1968 when she left the Order and moved to Boston. Corita's art reflects her spirituality, her commitment to social justice, her hope for peace, and her delight in the world that takes place all around us.

 

Physical Description
This print is made of colorful forms and words in bright letters and bold fonts, arranged on a white background. Block letters display words in a mixed-up format, some upside down, some on their sides. On left side there is a section with smaller writing in yellowish ink on grey.

Text:
To the Lovings, new hope i love you much (most beautiful darling) more than anyone on earth and i like you better than everything in the sky--sunlight and singing welcome your coming although winter may be everywhere with such a silence and such a darkness no one can quite begin to guess (except my life) the true time of the year-- and if what calls itself a world should have the luck to hear singing (or glimpse such sunlight as will leap higher than high through gayer than gayest someone's heart at your each nearness) everyone certainly would (my most beautiful darling) believe in nothing but love. cummings

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form. Keywords
civil rights
lettering (processes)
marriage (social construct)
poems
screen prints