Strange FruitsAfter 196819 × 9 × 9"Paint on wood with glassGift of John and Margaret Robson2001.14.101540302646P6.1999.01Ulysses DavisSculptureCopyright for this work is under review. SavannahSavannahUnited StatesGeorgiaThree Dimensional WorksSavannah
Barbershops have long played an important role as centers of community life, as men gather in trusted and intimate surroundings to converse, share information, and discuss topics as diverse as religion, local events, and politics. When Ulysses Davis lost his job as a blacksmith’s assistant on the railroad during the 1950s, he began to barber, opening a shop that he built behind his home in Savannah, Georgia. This is also when Davis allowed himself the creative pleasure of carving, an art that he practiced for the next many years. He ultimately made and displayed approximately three hundred sculptural works and used the multifarious themes to spark further dialogue among his customers. Davis sold very few of his works. "They’re part of me. They’re part of my treasure. If I sold these, I’d really be poor," he said.
Davis had whittled wood scraps as a young boy and learned metalworking from his blacksmith father. He later worked as a blacksmith’s assistant on the railroad, experience that enabled him to make many of the tools he was to use in carving wood. Despite the racial oppression suffered by the African American community, Davis was highly patriotic; his best-known work is a series of forty-one presidential busts from George Washington through George H. W. Bush, which he completed over a number of years. He also delved deeply into religious and historical subjects, and conjured "created beasts." It was not until the civil rights era of the 1960s and 70s that he explored a decidedly African aesthetic in sculptures that evoked African art, history, and lore. Strange Fruits was made during this period of growing pride in cultural identity and strongly recalls African reliquary sculpture in its form and representation. The rosebud that decorates the central element was a symbol of love for the artist, and the title is a reference to a 1937 poem by Abel Meeropol that became a civil rights protest song, first sung by Billie Holiday in 1939:
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Strange Fruits, then, is a mixed metaphor. Even as its title evokes the horror of lynching, it is a testament to ancestral pride, human dignity, love, and endurance.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Strange Fruits, After 1968" exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgSculpture and Three Dimensional ObjectsUlysses Davis started carving around 1968, at the height of the civil rights movement. He owned and operated a barbershop in Savannah, Georgia, that also became the studio for his woodcarvings. Davis’s best-known work is a series of presidential busts, but he was also interested in religious and historical subjects. Using hardwoods, handmade tools, and a pocketknife, Davis created approximately three hundred sculptures that he used to spark dialogues among his customers, as men of many generations gathered in his barbershop. Strange Fruits is more fantastical than many other works by Davis. It strongly recalls African reliquary sculpture in its form and representation. The rosebud that decorates the central element was for the artist a symbol of love, yet the title is a reference to a 1937 poem by Abel Meeropol that was transformed into a civil rights protest song by Lewis Allen and first sung by Billie Holiday in 1939:
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Strange Fruits, then, is a mixed metaphor, a testament to ancestral pride, human dignity, love, and endurance.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Strange Fruits," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgP6.1999.0119681990 2001 14 1
Barbershops have long played an important role as centers of community life, as men gather in trusted and intimate surroundings to converse, share information, and discuss topics as diverse as religion, local events, and politics. When Ulysses Davis lost his job as a blacksmith’s assistant on the railroad during the 1950s, he began to barber, opening a shop that he built behind his home in Savannah, Georgia. This is also when Davis allowed himself the creative pleasure of carving, an art that he practiced for the next many years. He ultimately made and displayed approximately three hundred sculptural works and used the multifarious themes to spark further dialogue among his customers. Davis sold very few of his works. "They’re part of me. They’re part of my treasure. If I sold these, I’d really be poor," he said.
Davis had whittled wood scraps as a young boy and learned metalworking from his blacksmith father. He later worked as a blacksmith’s assistant on the railroad, experience that enabled him to make many of the tools he was to use in carving wood. Despite the racial oppression suffered by the African American community, Davis was highly patriotic; his best-known work is a series of forty-one presidential busts from George Washington through George H. W. Bush, which he completed over a number of years. He also delved deeply into religious and historical subjects, and conjured "created beasts." It was not until the civil rights era of the 1960s and 70s that he explored a decidedly African aesthetic in sculptures that evoked African art, history, and lore. Strange Fruits was made during this period of growing pride in cultural identity and strongly recalls African reliquary sculpture in its form and representation. The rosebud that decorates the central element was a symbol of love for the artist, and the title is a reference to a 1937 poem by Abel Meeropol that became a civil rights protest song, first sung by Billie Holiday in 1939:
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Strange Fruits, then, is a mixed metaphor. Even as its title evokes the horror of lynching, it is a testament to ancestral pride, human dignity, love, and endurance.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Strange Fruits, After 1968" exhibition copy for American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2020.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgSculpture and Three Dimensional ObjectsUlysses Davis started carving around 1968, at the height of the civil rights movement. He owned and operated a barbershop in Savannah, Georgia, that also became the studio for his woodcarvings. Davis’s best-known work is a series of presidential busts, but he was also interested in religious and historical subjects. Using hardwoods, handmade tools, and a pocketknife, Davis created approximately three hundred sculptures that he used to spark dialogues among his customers, as men of many generations gathered in his barbershop. Strange Fruits is more fantastical than many other works by Davis. It strongly recalls African reliquary sculpture in its form and representation. The rosebud that decorates the central element was for the artist a symbol of love, yet the title is a reference to a 1937 poem by Abel Meeropol that was transformed into a civil rights protest song by Lewis Allen and first sung by Billie Holiday in 1939:
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Strange Fruits, then, is a mixed metaphor, a testament to ancestral pride, human dignity, love, and endurance.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Strange Fruits," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information. To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org