Exodus of Confederates from Atlanta, from "Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)"

Artist Kara Walker (b. 1969)

Date2005

MediumOffset lithography and silkscreen on Somerset Textured paper

DimensionsSheet Dimension: 39 × 53 in. (99.1 × 134.6 cm)
Frame Dimension: 41 × 55 × 1 3/4 in. (104.1 × 139.7 × 4.4 cm)

ClassificationsLithograph

Credit LineStephen B. Lawrence and Bette Batchelor Memorial Acquisition Funds

Terms

Object number2019.4.12

DescriptionFrom "Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)"; AP 3/10 (edition of 35 + 10 AP)

An important rail and supply center, Atlanta, Georgia, fell to Union troops on September 2, 1864, after a series of Confederate defeats in and around the city. Many inhabitants, along with Confederate troops, began to evacuate the city before the arrival of Union troops, as depicted in this Harper’s illustration Exodus of Confederates from Atlanta.

Walker adds psychological and visual complexity to the scene, through the inclusion of two large silhouettes of an African American women and man—one nested within the other to create an aperture or window into the Harper’s image beneath. The silhouettes draw the viewer’s eye toward the center of the composition, where an African American boy can be seen loading a caravan for civilians who were ordered to evacuate the city, raising questions about the plight of the enslaved residents of Atlanta.

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