Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Identification and Creation
Object Number
2008.95
People
Glenn Ligon, American (Bronx, NY born 1960)
Title
Runaways
Classification
Prints
Work Type
portfolio
Date
1993
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/326292
Physical Descriptions
Technique
Lithograph
Dimensions
each sheet: 40.5 x 30.4 cm (15 15/16 x 11 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.r. each sheet in pencil: Glenn Ligon '93
  • inscription: l.r. margin of each sheet in pencil: Glenn Ligon '93
  • inscription: l.l. margin of each sheet in pencil: PP 1/3
State, Edition, Standard Reference Number
Edition
PP 1/3
Acquisition and Rights
Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund
Copyright
© Glenn Ligon
Accession Year
2008
Object Number
2008.95
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
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Descriptions
Description
Portfolio of ten lithographs with paper folded cover.
Commentary
The work of Glenn Ligon draws upon the history of African American culture, from slavery through contemporary popular culture. The ten lithographs in the portfolio "Runaways" revise in format and narrative structure fugitive slave posters of the mid-nineteenth century. Each depicts a black figure above a text describing a run-away slave named Glenn. The artist asked friends to provide verbal accounts of him, as though reporting his disappearance to the police. The descriptions eerily replicate the language of the slave trade in America, thus pointing its legacy and reverberations in contemporary black life.
Related Works

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu