The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Crown of Thorns (Songs on the Death of Children)

1994

Guillermo Kuitca

(Argentinian, b. 1961)
Argentina
Acrylic and oil on canvas
Overall: 240 x 189.8 cm (94 1/2 x 74 3/4 in.)
Gift of the Contemporary Art Society on the occasion of its 40th anniversary 2000.21
© Guillermo Kuitca, Courtesy Sperone Westwater, New York
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Kuitca opened his first solo exhibition at age 13 at La Galería Lirolay in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Description

Argentinian artist Guillermo Kuitca uses familiar symbolism that he removes from its context and abstracts to discourage literal interpretation. Here, a twisted pattern of white, spiky lines evokes a child’s scribble, resembling an arbitrary internal circuit with many possible readings. Kuitca uses references to religious symbols like the Christian Crown of Thorns throughout his work, in this case reimagining the circular “crown” as a chaotic tangle of vines. He says, “I like the idea of playing with a kind of religious chaos. As if religion were to be seen as the greatest state of confusion of the human race.”
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “CMA Acquires Major Contemporary Latin American Painting as Gift of Contemporary Art Society,” December 12, 2000, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
  • Everything: Guillermo Kuitca, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1980-2008. Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL (organizer) (October 9, 2009-January 17, 2010); Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY (February 19-May 30, 2010); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (June 26-September 19, 2010); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (October 21, 2010-January 9, 2011).
    Miami Art Museum, FL (10/9/2009 - 1/17/2010), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY (2/19/2010 - 5/30/2010), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (6/26/2010 - 9/19/2010) and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (10/21/2010 - 1/9/2011): "Everything: Guillermo Kuitca, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1980-2008"
    The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
    MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 137, p. 124, repr. p. 127.
  • {{cite web|title=Crown of Thorns (Songs on the Death of Children)|url=false|author=Guillermo Kuitca|year=1994|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2000.21