Ibeji Figure

This figure represents a person who was a twin, or ibeji. Nigeria has the highest rates of twinning in the world— around four times higher than the global average. Among […]

The Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan

Lucas van Leyden (born 1489 or 1494 – died 1533) is a celebrated figure within the history of printmaking. On loan currently to the BMA is his engraving entitled The […]

Kaikoo II

Sitting at the corner of Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard and Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard, artist Betty Gold’s massive red sculpture Kaikoo II has become a fixture of the Birmingham […]

Moonlight in Virginia

George Inness is something of an enigma in the history of American art. His contemporaries characterized him—unlike any other nineteenth-century American painter—as “both a poet and a philosopher…who spoke through […]

An Original Maker: S.L. Jones

This image of two musicians was created by Shields Landon “S.L.” Jones, an artist from West Virginia. Jones, who was born in 1901, grew up in the rural Southern Appalachians […]

Painting on Stone

This painting shows the birth of Jesus as recounted in the Bible and is a wonderful, small work of art. Let’s focus first on the frame: the scene is surrounded […]

Durga

“Who runs the world? Girls!” Those wise and catchy words from Queen Bae confirm what most of us already know– women are mighty. We know girls are running the world, […]

Am I not a Man and a Brother?

Senior Curator Anne Forschler-Tarrasch, PhD discusses the powerful imagery featured on an 18th century medallion.

Civil Rights Press Prints

Dr. Katelyn Crawford, Curator of American Art, discusses two photos from the Museum’s collection that had a major impact on the early Civil Rights Movement.