The Artist

Ladder for Booker T. Washington, Puryear

The titles of Martin Puryear’s sculptures might best be considered

as metaphors that expand rather than limit the meaning

of his works, which are spare, carefully crafted, evocative, and

profound. Like poetry, much is lost in the interpretation. When

his sculptures are titled after historic people, it is especially easy

to misread them. In

chose the title only after he had completed the sculpture. To

think of the title as a frame for the sculpture would be backwards

Who was Booker T. Washington

Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915. Representative of the last generation of black American leaders born in slavery, he spoke on behalf of the large majority of blacks who lived in the South but had lost their ability to vote through disfranchisement by southern legislatures.

Ladder for Booker T. Washinton

The ladder, at the bottom, is 11 3/4 inches wide and at the top is is a mear 1 1/2 inches!!!   Giving it the ladder the illusion of being much taller than it is. Even though it is 85 ft tall!!! It is made of Ash wood and maple.