The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 22, 2025

Mirrors & Eyes

1994

John L. Moore

(American, b. 1939)
America
oil on canvas
Unframed: 203.2 x 172.7 cm (80 x 68 in.)
Gift of Jane Farver 2009.437
© John L. Moore
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Ovoid mirrors are a hallmark of the artist's style and appear in much of his work.

Description

Moore blends recognizable images with abstraction to address memory and history. Here, the painting’s turbulent surface suggests water, in which three oval mirrors--hauntingly without reflections--and four eyeballs appear to float. This imagery seemingly refers to loss of identity and life during the Middle Passage, whereby kidnapped Africans were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas to be enslaved.
  • 1994–2009
    Artist's studio
    2009
    Gift of Jane Farver [1947–2015]
    2009–
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Lee, Key Jo. “Four Curators, Four Favorites.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 62, no. 2 (2022): 30. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 30.
  • Currents and Constellations: Black Art in Focus. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 20-June 26, 2022).
    In Honor of The Cleveland Arts Prize. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (June 13, 2010-March 13, 2011).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (06/13/2010 - 11/4/2010): "In Honor of the Cleveland Arts Prize"
    From Then to Now: Masterworks of Contemporary African American Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-May 9, 2010).
    MOCA Cleveland, OH (1/29/2010 - 5/9/2010): "From Then to Now: Masterworks of Contemporary African American Art"
  • {{cite web|title=Mirrors & Eyes|url=false|author=John L. Moore|year=1994|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2009.437