The Art of Hope

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The painting, "Hope" by victorian artist George Frederic Watts, is apparently the inspiration for Jeremiah Wright's sermon on "The Audacity of Hope", which inspired Barack Obama.

From the Christian Science Monitor:
Entitled "Hope," the canvas hanging inside London's Guildhall Art Gallery as part of an exhibition by Victorian painter George Frederic Watts might appear unremarkable to some.

In drab browns and grays on a blue background, it depicts a young blindfolded woman strumming on the last unbroken string of a harp, her ear to the instrument.

Obama's controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright invoked the image as a symbol of inspiration during a sermon in Chicago 20 years ago.

The harpist, he preached, "is sitting there in rags ... her clothes are tattered as though she had been a victim of Hiroshima… [yet] the woman had the audacity to hope."

The imagery stayed with Obama. The young politician adapted that phrase in his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention – which marked his breakthrough onto the national stage – and again in 2006 as the title of his second book.

Theodore Roosevelt was fan of Watts, and hung another of his paintings in the White House, "Love and Life:"

Comments

Anonymous said…
Fascinating connections to art! Welcome back, Anna, how are you?
8:13 AM
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