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Karel Gomes

Hagar, 21st century, Bronze, Bijbelse Tuin, Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, © Karel Gomes, courtesy of Lothar Vigelandzoon; Photo: Lothar Vigelandzoon

George Segal

Abraham's Farewell to Ishmael, 1987, Painted plaster, 271.78 x 137.16 x 137.16 cm, Pérez Art Museum, Miami; Gift of The George and Helen Segal Foundation, Inc., 2001.10, © 2020 The George and Helen Segal Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY; Photo: Oriol Tarridas, © Pérez Art Museum Miami

Edmonia Lewis

Hagar, 1875, Marble, 133.6 x 38.8 x 43.4 cm, Smithsonian American Art Museum; Gift of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., 1983.95.178, Retrieved from https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/hagar-14627

Legacy of Survival

Comparative Commentary by
Read by Ben Quash

Despite Abraham’s expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael, we know that they survive. When God opens Hagar’s eyes, she sees a well of water and provides for herself and her son. He grows up, and she procures for him a wife from Egypt.

Within Islamic tradition, Abraham (known as Ibrahim) took Hagar and Ishmael (Isma’il) to Mecca in Arabia to spare them from Sarah’s jealousy (Surah Ibrahim 14:37).

In the biblical text, we hear no more of Hagar’s story as the focus turns to Isaac. Ishmael, meanwhile, is nearly forgotten such that in the following chapter Isaac is described as Abraham’s ‘only’ son (Genesis 22:2). Still, in later years, both sons come together and bury their father (25:9).

The story of Hagar is often treated as a minor incident within the larger Abraham saga. Although Genesis 21 moves quickly from expulsion (v.14) to theophany (v.17), these three representations by George Segal, Edmonia Lewis, and Karel Gomes allow us to pause and linger within the narrative. In these three representations of Hagar, two involve Hagar by herself without even her son. Although typically, we think of Hagar as part of a unit or family, these images help us to focus on her plight and her feelings as an individual.

Although Segal’s family portrait includes Hagar, she stands alone facing outward. Segal’s Hagar does not appear to be ethnically distinctive in comparison with the other figures. The viewer focuses primarily on the presumed age of each figure and their placement in relation to each other. While Sarah seems cold and distant, Abraham is portrayed sympathetically as he appears reluctant to carry out Sarah’s wishes.

Lewis’s sculpture illustrates the hopefulness of Hagar perhaps at the moment of her second theophany. It is the most optimistic of these three images as Hagar seems to be anticipating a change in her circumstances. While Segal presents Hagar facing forwards and Gomes presents her with eyes closed, Lewis shows her gazing upward in anticipation.

Like Segal, Gomes does not provide any clear clues to identify Hagar. It is the most sympathetic view of Hagar as it focuses attention on her victimization and emphasizes her impoverished state. In contrast to Lewis’s expectant Hagar, this is Hagar in anguish. In contrast to Segal’s Hagar who is leaving the household, this is Hagar in isolation.

Together, these images raise questions about the legacy of survival. Hagar does not ask for marriage with Abraham and unlike many other biblical women, she does not ask for a child. Despite being Abraham’s wife, she remains enslaved and subject to Sarah’s whims and abuse. Eventually, Hagar and Ishmael make it through their wilderness encounter. Before we are assured of their survival, these images force us to sit and reckon with the horror of the expulsion. Although Hagar and Ishmael survive, what physical and psychological scars remain? Do we consider this story a happy ending? And if so, for whom?

Next exhibition: Genesis 22:1–5