The American People Series 18: The Flag is Bleeding

The American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding
The Flag is Bleeding in 2017 at the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac in Paris
ArtistFaith Ringgold
Year1967 (1967)
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions182.88 cm × 243.84 cm (72.00 in × 96.00 in)
LocationNational Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Accession2021.28.1[1]

The American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding is an oil on canvas painting made by American artist Faith Ringgold in 1967.[1] Widely cited as one of Ringgold's most iconic and pivotal works, the painting depicts a Black man, white woman, and white man interlocking arms inside the confines of an American flag dripping with blood, some of which is seemingly from a wound on the Black man's chest.[2] The Flag is Bleeding was painted toward the end of the American Civil Rights movement and explores themes of race, gender, and patriotism.[3]

  1. ^ a b "The American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding, 1967". National Gallery of Art. 1967. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  2. ^ Escalante-De Mattei, Shanti (22 October 2021). "National Gallery of Art Acquires Iconic Faith Ringgold Flag Painting". ARTnews. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  3. ^ Valentine, Victoria L. (24 October 2021). "National Gallery of Art Acquires Faith Ringgold's 'Flag is Bleeding' Painting: May be Museum's 'Most Important Purchase of a Single Work of Contemporary Art' since 1976". Culture Type. Archived from the original on 21 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.