This etching depicts a procession, a theme which Norman Lewis
revisited throughout his career. Ruth Fine (1972-2012), curator
of Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis, held at the Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia in 2015, wrote: “The
‘procession’ in the exhibition’s title evokes Lewis’ intriguing
painterly process and highlights a prominent thread that runs
through his oeuvre: the procession ritual.
“Processions were both celebratory and terrifying for Lewis,
equally carrying allusions to Carnevale and Ku Klux Klan marches.
Such duality was at the heart of his artistic practice, which
consistently employed modes of representation and abstraction;
geometric and organic form; and emotional content ranging
from joy to rage.”

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