Sandy and Her Husband

1973

Sandy and Her Husband, 1973. Emma Amos (American, 1937–2020). Oil on canvas; 112.4 x 127.6 cm (44 1/4 x 50 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2018.24 © Emma Amos / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY In Sandy and Her Husband, the dancing couple at the center of the image is joined by Amos herself: the artist inserted herself into the picture by rendering an earlier self-portrait, Flower Sniffer (1966), which hangs on the wall behind the couple. However, even as Amos is part of the composition, she is peripheral to the scene, unseen or ignored by the dancers. From the early 1960s until her death in 2020, Amos made paintings, prints, and textiles celebrating African American identity and culture, and often exploring women’s presence within that heritage. The image of the young woman behind the couple is a self-portrait of Amos titled Flower Sniffer (1966), in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum.