Edith Lunt Small (1931–2017)

For the exhibition, Edith Lunt Small, Retrospective, presented at the NTID Dyer Arts Center at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2008, the artist stated: 

“The Entry of Christ into Manhattan,” modeled after James Ensor’s “Entry of Christ into Brussels [in1889]” has to do with irony, depicting Christ making his way up Park Avenue ignored by everyone. Most of the subjects in this work were friends (Charles Penney and Sylvia Davis), relatives (my mother and sister are both depicted, and I am the one coming out of a manhole), celebrities (Divine and Andy Warhol), homeless people, and animals on their way to the slaughterhouse to feel our insatiable need for meat. Irony is very important in my own work and in the works I love."

Key to The Entry of Christ Into Manhattan,

1 Christ, translation of Ancient Greek Christós, Hebrew for Messiah, and used as a title for Jesus in the New Testament; synonymous with Jesus of Nazareth. He is acknowledged by many religions. Christians believe he was the human manifestation of God and the Messiah, and some await a second coming. Most Jews, however, do not accept Jesus as the Messiah and still await the Messiah’s first coming. Muslims accept Jesus as the Messiah (known as Isa al-Masih) but not as the Son of God.

2 Death Truck, a vehicle that contains ghostly “animals on their way to the slaughterhouse to feed our insatiable need for meat.”

3 Isley Brothers, an American musical group, originally a vocal trio.

4 William B. Macomber, Jr. (1921-2003) an official in the U.S. Department of State and a United States diplomat who later became the first full-time president of the Museum of Modern Art. 

5 Phillippe de Montebello (b. 1936) Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 1977-2008

6 Louise Nevelson (1899-1988), American sculptor

7 Chris Kesel (Christopher Kesel), Rochester artist, painter

8 Wendell Castle (1932-2018) internationally recognized American furniture artist, leader of the School of American Craftsmen, Rochester Institute of Technology

9 Henry Geldzahler (1935-1994) art historian, art critic, and independent curator of mid-late 20^th-century contemporary art

10 Lee Radziwell (born Caroline Lee Bouvier, 1933-2019) American socialite, public relations executive, interior decorator, younger sister of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis

11 Ramón Santiago (1943-2001), Rochester, NY painter

12 Catherine Romaine (Catherine Romaine Brown) author of The Jack Russell Terrier: Courageous Companion (1998)

13 Divine (19445-1988) stage name of Harris Glenn Milstead, American actor, singer and drag queen, especially known for performances in films by John Waters, such as Pink Flamingos (1971-72)

14 B. Forman, a seasonal employee of the B. Forman Company, a specialty department store in Rochester

15 Kiss (Gene Simmons, b. 1949), an Israeli-born American rock bass guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, actor, and television personality, in costume as part of the group Kiss since 1973

16 Tom Wolfe (1930-2018), American novelist, journalist, and social commentator who was a leading critic of contemporary life and a proponent of “New Journalism” (the application of fiction-writing techniques to journalism).

17 Charles Rand Penney (1923-2010), American patron of the arts, original owner of this painting

18 Jackie Schuman

19 Sylvia Davis, Rochester artist

20 Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), French-American columnist and editor for the fashion magazines Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, being the editor-in-chief of the latter, and as a special consultant at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

21 Diane Lunt Stevenson (d. 1976), sister of the artist, Edith Lunt Small

22 Ron Galella (b. 1931), American photographer of celebrities

23 Halston (1932-1990), American fashion designer

24 Andy Warhol (1928-1987), American pop artist, film maker, and producer

25 Calvin Klein (b. 1942), American fashion designer

26 Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), American pop artist

27 Bill Blass (1922-2002), American fashion designer

28 Diane Arbus (1923-1971), American photographer

29 Jackie Onassis (1929-1994), Jacqueline Lee “Jackie” Kennedy Onassis was an American socialite, writer, and photographer who became First Lady of the United States as the wife of President John F. Kennedy

30 Mayor Ed Koch (1924-2013), American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.

31 Governor Hugh Carey (1919-2011), an American politician and attorney who served as a seven-term United States Representative from 1961 to 1974 as well as the 51st Governor of New York from 1975 to 1982.

32 Edith Lunt Small (1931-2017), American artist of Rochester, New York, artist of this painting

33 Lida Bell Lunt, mother of the artist Edith Lunt Small, wife of Clarence Lunt

34 Brett Waller (born Aaron Bret Waller, III, 1935), museum director, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, New York, 1980-1985