The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Laments: Death came and he looked like... (Sarcophagus lid)

1987

Jenny Holzer

(American, b.1950)
America
marble
45.7 x 61 x 137.2 cm (18 x 24 x 54 in.)
Purchased with funds donated by Scott Mueller 2019.19.1.b
© Jenny Holzer, member Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: 229A Contemporary

Did You Know?

The same text is displayed in motion on the LED sign and static on the surface of the sarcophagus.

Description

Laments: Death came and he looked like… belongs to one of Jenny Holzer’s iconic sculpture series, the Laments. A response to the AIDS epidemic, the series is based on 13 texts written by Holzer that she describes as “voices of the dead.” Each text was manifested in two forms: as colored light flowing between the ceiling and floor on LED signs, and as engravings carved into the tops of sarcophagi made of different stones. This work is one of those pairings.
  • 1987-?
    Collection of the artist
    (Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY)
    2000
    (Christie's, New York, NY, May 17, 2000, no. 192)
    Cheim & Read, New York, NY, sold to Howard and Cindy Rachofsky, Dallas, TX
    ?-2019
    The Collection of Cindy and Howard Rachofsky, Dallas, TX, consigned to Art Agency Partners, New York, NY
    2019
    Art Agency Partners, New York, NY, 2019, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2019-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Auping, Michael, ed. Jenny Holzer (Universe Women Artists). New York: Universe, 1992. 40-43, 52, 56, 64, 82, 93, 96, 103-104 and 106.
    Auping, Michael. Jenny Holzer: The Venice Installation. Exh. Cat. Buffalo, NY: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1991.
    Breslin, David, ed. Jenny Holzer. Exh. Cat. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2008.
    Ferguson, Bruce. “Wordsmith: an interview with Jenny Holzer.” Art in America 74, no. 12 (December 1986). 108
    Hughes, Gordon. “Power’s Script: Or, Jenny Holzer’s Art after ‘Art after Philosophy,’” Oxford Art Journal 29, no. 3 (2006). 419-440
    Joselit, David, et al. Jenny Holzer. London: Phaidon, 2003.
    null
    After the Revolution: Women Who Transformed Contemporary Art. Munich, London, and New York: Prestel Verlag, 2007.
    Siegel, Jeanne “Jenny Holzer’s Language Games.” Arts Magazine 60, no. 4 (December 1985). 64-68
    Taylor, Paul. “Jenny Holzer: I wanted to do a portrait of society.” Flash Art International 151 (March/April 1990). 116-119
    Waldman, Diane, ed. Jenny Holzer. Exh. Cat. Guggenheim Museum Publications: New York, 1989. 92-97
    Holzer, Jenny. Jenny Holzer: Laments. Exh. Cat. New York: Dia Art Foundation, 1989.
  • Jenny Holzer: Laments 1988-1989. Dia Chelsea, New York (March 2, 1989-February 18, 1990)
  • {{cite web|title=Laments: Death came and he looked like... (Sarcophagus lid)|url=false|author=Jenny Holzer|year=1987|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.19.1.b