On View
On viewObject number2015.39
Home on Leave
Artist
Reginald Gammon
(American, 1921 - 2005)
Date1974
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 14 × 12 in. (35.6 × 30.5 cm)
frame: 15 5/8 × 13 5/8 × 1 5/8 in. (39.7 × 34.6 × 4.1 cm)
frame: 15 5/8 × 13 5/8 × 1 5/8 in. (39.7 × 34.6 × 4.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Scott Matheson Hitchcock
Exhibition History"Resilience: African American Artists as Agents of Change," at the KIA (September 14, 2019 - February 16, 2020).
"Unveiling American Genius," KIA Permanent Collection Exhibition, Traditional, Markin, Nay and Groos Galleries (March 1, 2021 - December 31, 2023).Label TextReginald “Reggie” Gammon produced hundreds of paintings, drawings, photographs, and limited-edition prints. The sepia tone of this painting lends the image an antique quality. Perhaps a semi-autobiographical painting, as the artist served in an all-black unit of the Navy stationed in Guam from 1944-46. Or perhaps Gammon painted Home on Leave in response to the treatment of Black soldiers and widespread political opposition to the Vietnam War.
Known for works that commented on the political climate of the times, Gammon was involved in Spiral, a New York-based artist collective that discussed how African American visual artists could contribute to the Civil Rights Movement.
[Label Text: For the People: America at 250 Exhibition, June 27 - October 4, 2026]
