The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Dracula and the Artist

1991, printed 2019

Lorraine O'Grady

(American, 1934–2024)
Diptych, archival pigment print
Image: 101.6 x 254 cm (40 x 100 in.); Framed: 103.8 x 258.4 x 4.4 cm (40 7/8 x 101 3/4 x 1 3/4 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2022.90
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Lorraine O’Grady was an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Departments of Labor and State, a translator, and a rock critic before becoming an artist.

Description

Dracula addresses Black women’s relationship to their hair. In the left half of this diptych, or two-part piece, an artist with broken and unkempt hair stares at a flight of combs, their broken teeth evoking vampires’ fangs. In the right panel, the artist focuses on making her art, managing to accept herself as she is and overcome Dracula’s erotic allure.
  • ?-2022
    (Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY), sold to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    September 12, 2022-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • O'Grady, Lorraine. Writing in Space: 1973–2019, edited by Aruna D'Souza. Durham and London: DukeUniversity Press, 2020 p. 28
    Morris, Catherine, Aruna D'Souza, Lorraine O'Grady, and Catherine Lord. Lorraine O'Grady: Both/And. 2021. p. 156––57
    “8 Gallery Shows Not to Miss During the First-Ever New York Art Week, From Ellsworth Kelly’s Collagesto Nari Ward’s Ode to Morandi.” artnet news, May 3, 2022.
    Bittencourt, Ela. “Lorraine O’Grady Still Won’t Play It Safe.” Hyperallergic, June 7, 2022.
  • {{cite web|title=Dracula and the Artist|url=false|author=Lorraine O'Grady|year=1991, printed 2019|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.90