ArtistKathryn Freeman
Zebras Running, National Zoo
Date1995
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions40 × 60 in. (101.6 × 152.4 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2002.073
ClassificationsPaintings
Locations
- Currently Not on View
DescriptionFreeman painted a series of seven paintings called “Toward a Peaceable Kingdom” when she returned to the United States after living abroad for ten years. Upon her arrival, she was chagrined by how divisive the country had become and decided to do these paintings as an expression of her feelings as well as in the hope that we could become a more harmonious society. She chose to make the animals at the National Zoo an allegory for the idea of taking down barriers and letting all creatures come together to live in peace. “Zebras Running, National Zoo” is one of the first paintings in this series. The Zebras have been freed from their paddock at the zoo and are running through the painting, ecstatic at their new-found freedom, as a little girl dances on a wall in celebration. The black and white stripes of the zebras and the couple in the foreground are also allegories for bringing together people of all cultures, religious beliefs and race.
