LCV Spring 2013 - (Page 82)
For more information on
Sister Gertrude Morgan, visit
Charity Hospital Fan, circa 1960-1970
by Sister Gertrude Morgan (Louisiana)
Acrylic, graphite and ink on cardboard
New Orleans Museum of Art (2004.1)
Museum Purchase: Lee Friedlander Fund
Throne of God, 1970
by Sister Gertrude Morgan
Acrylic and/or tempera, and ball point pen ink on paper
New Orleans Museum of Art (2001.296)
Gift of Maria and Lee Friedlander
82 LOUISIANA ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES • Spring 2013
A gifted painter and poet, Sister Gertrude Morgan (19001980) passed out her hand constructed and painted fans
during prayer sessions at her Everlasting Mission in New
Orleans. This fan, which Morgan may have used
while preaching in her mission, records a portrait
of Morgan dressed in white, seen with her
savior Jesus Christ in an airplane bound for
the New Jerusalem. Morgan probably
received treatment at Charity
Hospital, which cared for New
Orleans’ indigent sick. The
phone number cited here
was that of the hospital
during Morgan’s lifetime.
Born in Alabama, Sister
Gertrude Morgan was a
missionary and artist who
preached her gospel through lively
painting and music. She had a series of
powerful revelations, the first at the age of
28, when she was told to leave her husband
and begin a life of preaching. She moved to New
Orleans in 1939 and established a mission in the
Gentilly neighborhood, where she held vibrant revivals,
often shouting the gospel rather than singing it. In the
1950s, a voice told her she was the bride of Christ.
Morgan often incorporated text into her paintings, usually
biblical passages from the book of Revelation, and quite literally
illustrated each phrase from the passage. She often painted herself
into her imagery, dressed all in white as Christ’s bride. Morgan said, “He
[Christ] have taken me out of the black robe and crowned me out in white.
We are now in revelation. He married me, I’m his wife.” The combination of
vibrant images, meaningful text and visual references to biblical passages is central to
all of Morgan’s work.
Sister Gertrude Morgan often combined incorporated text into her images:
words, songs, thoughts or, as in Throne of God a literal interpretation of a biblical
passage. In this work illustrating the fourth book of the Revelation, God is seated
with “a rainbow round about the throne” next to “a door opened in heaven.” Below,
twenty-four elders clothed in white sit above the four beasts described in the Bible:
the lion, the calf, the beast with the face like a man, and the flying eagle. This
painting is a great example of both Morgan's artistic ability and her richness of
content.
http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=993
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LCV Spring 2013
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