Apocalyptic Scene with Philosophers and Historical Figures

Artist McKendree Robbins Long American, 1888–1976

Datecirca 1959

MediumOil on Masonite panel

Dimensions47 7/8 x 72 1/4 in. (121.6 x 183.5 cm)
Frame: 51 5/8 x 75 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (131.1 x 192.4 x 3.5 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the William R. Roberson Jr. and Frances M. Roberson Endowed Fund for North Carolina Art

Object number99.10

On View

Not on view

ProvenanceProbably created Statesville, NC, ca. 1959; collection of the artist. Max Jackson, Charlotte, NC; sold to NCMA, 1999.
Published ReferencesRoger Manley, Signs and Wonders: Outsider Art inside North Carolina (exhibition catalogue) (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1989), discussed 39, listed 132, illus. (color) 40.

Richard Maschal, Wet-Wall Tattoos: Ben Long and the Art of the Fresco (Winston-Salem, NC: John F. Blair, 1993), 112-114.

Art Taylor, "2002 Exhibitions," Preview: The Magazine of the North Carolina Museum of Art (January/February 2002), mentioned 8.

David Steel, "Reverend McKendree Robbins Long: Picture Painter of the Apocalypse," Preview: The Magazine of the North Carolina Museum of Art (March/April 2002), discussed 6, illus. (color) 4-5.

David H. Steel, Reverend McKendree Robbins Long: Picture Painter of the Apocalypse (exhibition catalogue) (Davidson, NC: Davidson College, 2002), cat. no. 27, illus. (color) 95 and front cover.

Charles C. Eldredge, et al, Tales From the Easel: American Narrative Paintings from Southeastern Museums, circa 1800-1950 (exhibition catalogue) (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2004), discussed generally 10-11, illus. (b-w) 11, fig. 4.

Max Halperen, "Objects of Desire: The Museum Collects, 1994-2004," (exhibition review) Art Papers (November/December 2004), briefly discussed 45.

William D. Moore and Walter H. Conser Jr., "Contextualizing the Apocalyptic Visions of McKendree Robbins Long," in Southern Crossroads: Perspectives on Religion and Culture (Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2008), mentioned 90, discussed 106-08, illus. (b-w) 91, fig. 1.

David Steel, entry for Apocalyptic Scene with Philosophers and Historical Figures, in North Carolina Museum of Art: Handbook of the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 2010), 486, illus. (color) 487.

Jon Lance Bacon, “’Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb’: Flannery O’Connor and the End-Time Scenario,” in Flannery O’Connor Review 10 (2012), illus. and details (color) 48.
Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Signs and Wonders: Outsider Art inside North Carolina," July 29-October 1, 1989; Hickory, NC, Hickory Museum of Art, October 13, 1989- January 3, 1990; Wilmington, NC, St. John's Museum of Art, January 18-March 14, 1990, discussed 39, listed 132, illus. (color) 40.

Baltimore, MD, American Visionary Art Museum, "The End is Near!: Visions of the Apocalypse, Millennium, and Utopia," [ __-__ ], 1998, illus. (color) 48-49.

Las Vegas, NV, Las Vegas Art Museum, "The End is Near! Las Vegas," May 8-July 10, 1999.

Davidson, NC, Van Every/Smith Galleries, Davidson College, "Reverend McKendree Robbins Long: Picture Painter of the Apocalypse," January 22-March 1, 2002; Raleigh, North Carolina Museum of Art, April 7-August 25, 2002; Asheville, Asheville Art Museum, September 6-December 1, 2002; Hickory, December 14, 2002-March 9, 2003; Wilmington, Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum, April 4-June 29, 2003, cat. no. 27, illus. (color) 95 and front cover.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Objects of Desire: The Museum Collects, 1994-2004," July 18, 2004-February 27, 2005.
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