Artwork copyright Barbara Barnes Allen. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission, 2017.

Things Fall Apart, The Center Cannot Hold, 2000

Barbara Barnes Allen
American (born 1948)

Location: Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia

About the Artwork

This piece is part of artist Barbara Barnes Allen's body of collages that combine house-like structures with text and images of historical figures. She layered two images of George Washington in the center of this composition. She based the title Things Fall Apart, The Center Cannot Hold on a line from the poem The Second Coming by the Irish poet W.B. Yeats. He wrote the poem in 1919 to describe the aftermath of World War I.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Washington State Arts Commission.

About the Artist

Seattle-based artist Barbara Barnes Allen creates intricate and architectural book artworks that meaningfully connect imagery and narrative.