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Nellie Mae Rowe

Atlanta's Missing Children

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Mexican Prints
On view through January 5, Mexican Prints at the Vanguard explores the rich tradition of printmaking in Mexico—from the 18th century to the mid-20th century—through works drawn mainly from the Museum’s collection.

About the Artwork

Atlanta's Missing Children, 1981. Nellie Mae Rowe. Commercial paint, crayon, oil pastel, graphite, ink marker, and cut and pasted paper on paperboard. Gift of Souls Grown Deep Foundation from the William S. Arnett Collection, 2014. © 2022 Nellie Mae Rowe / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.Rowe’s fantastical and densely coded Atlanta’s Missing Children responds to the murders of at least eighteen children and six adults, events that terrorized the city between 1979 and 1981. While she often depicted animals in a benign or playful manner, the central blue creature of this piece is decidedly menacing, due in part to its bared teeth and cloven hooves. Like Thornton Dial, Rowe used animals as symbols or avatars in her work, making her drawings (perhaps deliberately) difficult to interpret. Here, the blue creature could serve as an avatar for Wayne Williams, the man accused of the murders and thus a form of predator.

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Met Custom Prints offers exclusive custom reproductions of artworks in The Met collection. Thanks to gallery-quality materials, we create prints as true to the original work as possible, using strict color management protocols and state-of-the-art printing technology.
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This is the only place you’ll find reproductions approved by The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We are continually adding new artworks to our offering, so be sure to check back regularly as you build your own gallery. A variety of molding styles means our custom framed prints can match any type of decor.

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