Glory Be!

Glory Be! — Dox Thrash. c. 1941–42.

Medium: graphite on paper, incised for transfer. Dimensions: Sheet: 20.3 x 28.9 cm (8 x 11 3/8 in.).

Collection record: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Museum connection according to this source; current display unverified.

This work is a final preparatory design for the carborundum mezzotint print by the artist Dox Thrash, also in the CMA’s collection (2023.195.1). Using graphite, the artist delineated and modeled the group of figures who gesture expressively and look upwards, sharing a state of rapture or ecstasy at the sight of parting skies and rays of light above. Thrash often portrayed African American spiritualism, which he knew from his childhood in the rural south and professional career in Philadelphia. The drawing was incised, or cut through, along the contour lines to transfer the lines of the composition to Thrash’s printing plate.

Source: official collection record. Metadata selected and normalized by Artline from the source export, accessed 10 September 2026; no museum endorsement. Reproduction rights are separate.