Coup de Grace
Dublin Core
Title
Coup de Grace
Description
Using only four colors, Saar creates a compelling image about the lengths women go to rewrite their narrative. Saar depicts a woman grasping onto and biting a thread of red yarn that is attached at one end to a larger ball that dominates the image, and the other coming out from under her dress. The ball of yarn references jobs typically associated with women of cleaning, making clothes and caring for the family. However, the string that emerges from within the woman and her cutting it off with her teeth symbolizes how women cut off ties to these stereotypes and reclaim their identity. Similar to the fates in Greek mythology, women have the power to create their own, independent future.
Creator
Alison Saar
Source
Prints Collection
Publisher
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Date
2012
Contributor
Acquired through the generosity of Truman W. Eustis III, Class of 1951
Format
Four-color lithograph edition 16/16, 48.6 x 63.8 cm.
IIIF Item Metadata
UUID
881e3450-8b53-4869-924b-a04b9b16160f
Collection
Citation
Alison Saar, “Coup de Grace,” The Power of Portrayal: Envisioning Women's Representation, accessed April 29, 2024, https://cornellcolab.net/suffrage/items/show/2.