''Tally'' is a painting by

Ellen Gallagher Ellen Gallagher (born December 16, 1965) is an American artist. Her work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions and is held in the permanent collections of many major museums. Her media include painting, works on paper, film and ...

. It is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in Boston, Massachusetts in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. This painting is part of an early series that Gallagher created examining

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...

s. Sheets of

penmanship Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. Today, this is most commonly done with a pen, or pencil, but throughout history has included many different implements. The various generic and formal hist ...

paper are adhered to a canvas. Neutral colored oil paint and blue pencil emphasizes the lines on, and color of, the paper. Lightly drawn symbols decorate the pieces of paper, including drawings of red lips and eyeballs which represent early stereotypes of African American peoples. This painting was acquired by the Museum on December 14, 1994, from the Mario Diacono Gallery, which representing Gallagher. Funding for the purchase came from the Living New England Artist Purchase Fund.

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Further reading