Lady Holds the Rooster

Thornton Dial may be best known for his constructions incorporating found objects, or his densely layered wall pieces, built out from foundations of plywood. The Johnson Museum’s watercolors, rendered with more traditional media, are among his earliest formal drawings. In his works on paper, Dial often depicted women, fish, cats, nesting birds, roosters, and other animals. These symbolic figures resonate with the artist’s memories and experiences of life in the Deep South, his observations on the dynamic between men and women, and his religious faith.