Schoolteacher
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
limestone
Dimensions
overall: 35.86 × 11.75 × 19.69 cm (14 1/8 × 4 5/8 × 7 3/4 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CMC
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of David and Renee McKee)
Accession Number
2015.19.3920
Art Historical Context
William Edmondson's *Schoolteacher* (1935), carved from limestone, stands as a poignant example of the artist's self-taught genius. Measuring just over 14 inches tall, this compact sculpture captures a dignified human figure—likely evoking the poised authority of an educator—rendered with smooth, flowing contours and a serene expression. Edmondson, an African American folk artist from Nashville, Tennessee worked during the Great Depression, transforming discarded limestone from local construction sites into evocative sculptures using only basic tools like a hammer and chisel. The medium of li...