End of the Empire

Artist Stephen Paul Day (American, born 1954)

Date2020

Dimensions6 × 15 1/2 × 6 9/16 in. (15.2 × 39.4 × 16.7 cm)

Mediumcast glass

ClassificationGlass

Credit LineMuseum Art Fund

Object number

2022.19

Not on View

Exhibition HistoryNew Orleans, Arthur Roger Gallery, Now She Sings, Now She Sobs, Now She Sings, January 9-April 10, 2021.Label TextStephen Paul Day uses his sharp wit and critical commentary on history and human behavior to engage audiences with his art. This sculpture depicts the head of Napoleon Bonaparte on the end of a piece of PVC pipe, both cast in glass. In a twist on traditional portrait busts, Napoleon’s head rests awkwardly on the floor like a wilted flower. The sculpture represents the French leader in 1803, when he traded control of a large parcel of land (the Louisiana Purchase), including New Orleans, to the United States in exchange for funds to fight the British. This reference to loss and eventual defeat alludes to the lingering effects of French rule on New Orleans, where Day lives, and which still operates under a legal system influenced by civil codes established under Napoleon’s rule. Day chose black glass for his sculpture as a reference to the history of slavery and how it altered the city of New Orleans.