In This World, If You Do Not Allow Your Brother to Climb, You Will Not Climb (Ama won yonko antwa nkron)

Artist: Mark Anthony (Ghanian, died 2020)
Author: (Playwright) Douglas Kobena Nyarko (Ghanaian, active 20th century)

ca. 1996–98

African Art

On view, 1st floor, African Art

Mark Anthony is known as the master of Ghanaian concert painting, a genre that flourished from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s and featured handpainted posters advertising traveling theatrical performances. This poster depicts a scene from A. B. Crentsil’s Ahenfo Band production of a play written by Douglas Kobena Nyarko. The title is an Akan proverb that teaches selflessness and warns against envy through the story of a queen mother who is jealous of a beautiful younger woman. In the scene shown here, the young woman emerges from an egg, while a hunter dressed in European colonial clothing approaches. The painting was constructed in two parts that are held together by hinges, so that it could be easily moved and presented freestanding. It shows wear and tear from being carried around to different performance venues.

Medium

Mahogany, acrylic house paint, and nails

Dimensions

96 × 96 × 2 in. (243.8 × 243.8 × 5.1 cm)

Credit Line

The Charles B. Benenson, B.A. 1933, Fund

Accession Number

2019.99.1

Geography
Culture
Period

20th century

Classification
Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance

Provenance

A.B. Crentsil, Ghana, 1996–1997; Michelle Gilbert, Guilford, Conn, 1997–2019; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • "Selected Acquisitions," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2020–21), 138, ill
Object copyright
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