Glenn Ligon

Warm Broad Glow

2005

Neon and blackout paint

On view MoMA, Floor 2, 209 The David Geffen Wing

“Rose laughed when she was happy but she had not the wide, abandoned laughter that makes the warm broad glow of negro sunshine,” Gertrude Stein wrote in her 1909 novel Three Lives. Nearly one hundred years later, Ligon decided to quote a fragment of Stein’s text for this black neon sign. The dark words remain clearly legible against a bright halo of light. In the glow of Ligon’s neon, Stein’s words—and her casual reliance on problematic racial stereotypes—are set in stark relief.

Gallery label from

2023

Medium Neon and blackout paint
Dimensions 26" × 16' (66 × 487.7 cm)
Credit Bequest of Janice H. Levin (by exchange)
Object number 532.2021.a-m
Department Painting & Sculpture

Explore more

All works by Glenn Ligon →

Audio

Audio from the playlist Collection 1980s–Present

From MoMA Design Store

Installation views

We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.

How we identified these works
In 2018–19, MoMA collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a project using machine learning to identify artworks in installation photos. That project has concluded, and works are now being identified by MoMA staff.

If you notice an error, please contact us at [email protected].
Licensing
To reproduce installation views, please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations). You will need to include the object identification number found in the caption.
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].

Licensing

Artwork or archival images

If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).

Audio and film clips

MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.

Text from a publication or the archives

If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].

Feedback

This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.