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Gordon Parks – Homeward to the Prairie I Come | MKBMA

A Note about Size

Parks selected a Masonite hardboard backing for the photographs he donated to K-State in 1973. The mounting adhesive leached into the images over time, damaging their surfaces. In 2016 – 2017, the museum partnered with the Gordon Parks Foundation to replace the original 1973 gift images with a set of authorized prints, selections of which are exhibited here. Some of the new prints differ in size from the 1973 gift prints. Object labels indicate where there are discrepancies.

“Homeward to the Prairie I Come”

Gordon Parks (1912 – 2006) – renowned photographer, writer, poet, musician, and composer – was born and raised in the segregated town of Fort Scott in Southeast Kansas. Parks left his hometown at fifteen and did not return until twenty years later, in 1950, as LIFE magazine’s first African American staff photographer. The return sparked a new relationship between the artist and Kansas. In 1968 Parks filmed part of his first motion picture, The Learning Tree, in Fort Scott. In 1970 he visited Kansas State University to receive an honorary degree. Three years later, he delivered a convocation speech and opened an exhibition of photographs that he donated to the university. The gift was the first the artist had curated for a public institution.

This exhibition presents selections from the Gordon Parks gift to K-State and explores the ways in which Parks sought to project himself to his fellow Kansans — his experiences and his points of view — through the images he chose for the university. The photographs constitute a kind of self-portrait spanning his career and his interests. The number of images devoted to certain topics and the size of the works help signal some of the artist’s intentions.

The exhibition’s title is the first line of a poem Parks wrote for a special insert in the Manhattan Mercury newspaper, which sponsored a 1984 visit to Manhattan by Parks as artist-in-residence. A small group of images from this visit and another in 1985 serve as a coda for the exhibition.

Homeward to the Prairie I Come is part of the K-State Gordon Parks Project initiated by the Beach Museum of Art and K-State Department of English. The English department has launched a website, The Learning Tree: A Gordon Parks Digital Archive, which provides access to archival materials and oral histories about the filming of The Learning Tree.

Photographs by Gordon Parks; courtesy of and copyright The Gordon Parks Foundation.

For more information, contact Beach Museum of Art curator Aileen June Wang, ajwang@k-state.edu or collections manager Sarah Price, srprice@k-state.edu

To learn more about the museum’s collection, download the Smartify app for free.

Visit beach.k-state.edu/explore/collection/

Website designed and created by Luke Dempsey, Exhibition Designer and Museum Technology Lead

“Homeward to the Prairie I come” will be on display at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art from September 7, 2021 – May 28, 2022

Click here for more information.

Explore the Virtual Tour

The Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art is grateful to The Alms Group for creating this and other 3D Virtual Tours for our exhibitions.

Photographs depicting African American life, including the Fort Scott Revisited series, constitute the biggest group in the K-State donation: forty-five out of the total 128.

Parks included twelve photographs about Kansas in his gift of 128, most from the 1950 LIFE assignment that motivated him to return to Kansas after twenty years away. The resulting photo-essay, Fort Scott Revisited (Parks’s title), documented the lives of African Americans living in segregated Fort Scott and what happened to Parks’s classmates after graduating from their all-Black junior high school. Although the photo-essay went unpublished in the magazine, Parks included photographs taken in Fort Scott in his 1975 book Moments Without Proper Names and in a film of the same name that aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) in 1987. The afterlife of Fort Scott Revisited demonstrates the significance it held for Parks.

Parks included many of his images taken in Europe in the 1973 gift. In quantity, they are second only to those illustrating African American experiences. These images tell the story of Parks as a Black Kansan, who moved from the confines of segregated Fort Scott into a world of opportunity and success in the United States and beyond.

Parks often gave his images new life in his books of poetry and in films, placing them in different contexts and changing their original meaning. To illustrate the poem The Shadow Searcher (displayed nearby) in his 1975 book Moments Without Proper Names, Parks used three images. One of them, The Stranger, is a multiple exposure. Another image, showing rooftops in Harlem, originated from Parks’s 1948 LIFE photo essay “Harlem Gang Leader.” The other photographs in this group are independent images not connected to a known project. They appear with his poems in the book Moments Without Proper Names (1975). Some also appear in Parks’s 1986 film of the same title.

Coda: Manhattan, Kansas, 1984 – 1985

Gordon Parks served as an artist-in-residence in Manhattan for part of 1984 at the invitation of the Manhattan Mercury newspaper. He returned to the city the following year for another residency organized by the Manhattan Arts Council and individual community partners and partly supported by the newspaper.

This section displays photographs from those 1980s visits to Manhattan.

A photograph of models wearing gowns by French designer Jacques Fath was the second largest image Parks donated to K-State. The choice of scale highlights the image’s similarity to portraits of social elites in the European grand manner represented by the work of such artists as American expatriate John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925). The entire group of fashion images suggests that Parks was intentionally drawing parallels between his photography and grand European painted portraits.

Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau), 1883 – 1884, John Singer Sargent, oil on canvas, 82 1/8 x 43 1/4 inches, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 16.53

This photograph was among the five largest images in the gift, along with two photographs of Flávio da Silva, a group photograph of women in ball gowns, and a portrait of artist Alexander Calder. Parks took these photographs of Muhammad Ali for his LIFE assignment about the boxer’s fight with British heavyweight Henry Cooper in London in May of 1966. Six years after the original photo-essay, Parks curated these photographs with a different mindset. Four of the seven present Ali in poses and compositions reminiscent of iconic ancient sculptures, especially of kouros, or standing nude male figures from the Archaic Greek period (ca. 600 – 400 BCE), as well as the Terme Boxer of Quirinal from the Greek Hellenistic period (ca. 100 BCE). Ancient Greek sculptures symbolized physical and spiritual excellence using the Caucasian body type exclusively. The same white male body symbolizes the physical ideal in twentieth-century American culture. Framing Muhammad Ali — with his African facial features and dark skin — as the modern face of beauty and heroism was Parks’s response.

Boxer of Quirinal, Greek Hellenistic bronze sculpture of a sitting nude boxer at rest, 100-50 BCE, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome, CC BY-SA 2.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37882085, photo by Carole Raddato, Frankfurt, Germany

Marble statue of a kouros (youth), ca. 590-580 BCE, marble, 76 5/8 x 20 5/16 x 24 7/8 inches, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Fletcher Fund, 1932, 32.11.1

Two of the largest photographs Parks donated to K-State came from his series about Flávio da Silva and his life in a notorious favela, or slum, in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro.

This photograph was among the five largest images in the gift. Parks’s choices suggest that he used size to highlight certain ideas. Large images introduce themes, while related smaller ones serve as supporting material.  

This portrait of Alexander Calder shows the artist from an unusual viewpoint. His face is not entirely visible. Parks’s lens focuses on Calder’s hands, which are working on the wires of his sculpture. The result is a dynamic representation of an artist at work. 

Generous support for this project provided by:

Platinum – Major Sponsors

Art Bridges
The Alms Group
Beach-Edwards Family Foundation
Friends of the Beach Museum of Art
Greater Manhattan Community Foundation’s Lincoln & Dorothy I. Deihl Community Grants Program
Weary Family Foundation

Gold Level Sponsors

Dan and Beth Bird
Steve and Debbie Saroff

Backyard of Parks home, White Plains, New York, 1958, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 39 x 27 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.403

Harlem, New York, from the series Harlem Gang Leader, 1948, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 23 1/3 x 39 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.398

The Stranger, 1958, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print
20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 27 x 39 5/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.405

Still Life, New York, 1958, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.349

Leopard, 1962, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print
20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 27 1/8 x 39 5/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.397

Untitled, 1960, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print
24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 39 5/8 x 26 1/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.408

Western Dawn, 1959, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print
20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 25 1/2 x 39 5/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.402

Manhattan Commission, 1984

Gelatin silver print

Acquisition made possible through partnerships with the Manhattan Mercury, the Manhattan Arts Center, and members of the Manhattan community, 2017.505

Flint Hills, 1984

Gelatin silver print

Acquisition made possible through partnerships with the Manhattan Mercury, the Manhattan Arts Center, and members of the Manhattan community, 2017.500

A Man’s Business, 1985

Gelatin silver print

Acquisition made possible through partnerships with the Manhattan Mercury, the Manhattan Arts Center, and members of the Manhattan community, 2017.535

Durland Shadows (Kansas State University campus), 1985

Gelatin silver print

Acquisition made possible through partnerships with the Manhattan Mercury, the Manhattan Arts Center, and members of the Manhattan community, 2017.532

Here, without rush we keep our lives moving (Beecher Bible & Rifle Church), 1984

Gelatin silver print

Acquisition made possible through partnerships with the Manhattan Mercury, the Manhattan Arts Center, and members of the Manhattan community, 2017.508

The title was the caption that accompanied this photograph when it was published in the Manhattan Mercury.

Antiquary 1 (Goodnow House), 1984

Gelatin silver print

Acquisition made possible through partnerships with the Manhattan Mercury, the Manhattan Arts Center, and members of the Manhattan community, 2017.515

* This image accompanied the following poem by Gordon Parks:

Harboring passion for an honorable life,

we listen inwardly for awhile

and ask a number of insoluble questions.

Kaw Blue Lodge, 1985

Gelatin silver print

Acquisition made possible through partnerships with the Manhattan Mercury, the Manhattan Arts Center, and members of the Manhattan community, 2017.524

Manhattan Mercury insert for the paper’s centennial, 1984

The Cry That Will Be Heard, from the series What I Want, What I Am, What You Force Me to Be Is What You Are, 1967, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
20 x 24 in (1973 print size: 30 1/8 x 40 1/4 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.414

At the poverty board: Bessie and Kenneth, Little Richard, Norman, Jr. and Ellen, from the series What I Want, What I Am, What You Force Me to Be Is What You Are, 1967, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
16 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 19 7/8 x 30 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.358

In the evening their mother shops for the cheapest food she can find, from the series What I Want, What I Am, What You Force Me to Be Is What You Are, 1967, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
16 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 19 1/8 x 30 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.390

Death Room, from the series Fort Scott Revisited, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.422

It is sometimes as cold in Norman Jr.’s bedroom as it is outside, from the series What I Want, What I Am, What You Force Me to Be Is What You Are, 1967, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.444

Bessie and Little Richard the morning after she scalded her husband, from the series What I Want, What I Am, What You Force Me to Be Is What You Are, 1967, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 24 x 40 1/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.412

Dirt is a constant plague — to the spirit, to Ellen’s feet, from the series What I Want, What I Am, What You Force Me to Be Is What You Are, 1967, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.453 and 2017.439

Willie Causey and family, from the series The Restraints: Open and Hidden, 1956, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.343

Stove occupies the center of auditorium in Shady Grove School, from the series The Restraints: Open and Hidden, 1956, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.352

Eldridge Cleaver and his wife, Kathleen, with portrait of Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party, from the series Eldridge Cleaver in Algiers: A Visit with Papa Rage, 1970, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print
24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 39 1/8 x 26 3/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.411

Top Woman (Ethel Sharrieff, daughter of Elijah Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam), from the series What Their Cry Means to Me (Nation of Islam), 1963, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.344

Untitled, from the series What Their Cry Means to Me (Nation of Islam), 1963, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print
20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 25 1/2 x 39 5/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.401

Harlem rally, from the series What Their Cry Means to Me (Nation of Islam), 1963, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.454

Black Muslims rally, from the series What Their Cry Means to Me (Nation of Islam),1963, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.351

Malcolm X and Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Harlem, New York, from the series What Their Cry Means to Me (Nation of Islam), 1963, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.376

Malcom X, from the series What Their Cry Means to Me (Nation of Islam), 1963, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
20 x 16 inches (1973 print size: 30 x 20 1/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.377

Parks selected a view of Muslim minister and civil rights leader Malcolm X that recalls images of leaders in ancient Rome, most popular of which was the official sculptural portrait of Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The photographer’s choice to give K-State a large version of the photograph suggests that he considered this to be a significant image, one that defined Malcolm X as one of the most important leaders of his era.

Augustus of Prima Porta, first century C.E., marble, 6 feet 8 inches, Vatican Museums, MV.2290.0.0

Untitled, from the series A Man Becomes Invisible, 1952, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.372

Mysticism that the hero finds in Harlem is represented by objects — both religious and superstitious — seen in a store window, from the series A Man Becomes Invisible, 1952, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
20 x 16 inches (1973 print size: 31 1/8 x 25 1/2 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.393

LIFE photographer Gordon Parks, a friend of Author [Ralph] Ellison, was so moved by this story [the novel Invisible Man by Ellison] that he translated it into pictures. With Ellison’s help he re-created from the novel the scenes on these pages to show the loneliness, the horror and the disillusionment of a man who has lost faith in himself and his world.

– author unknown, LIFE, August 25, 1952

Untitled, from the series A Man Becomes Invisible, 1952, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.438

Baptism, from the series The Modern Shouting Baptist, 1953, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.361

Pastor Ledbetter, from the series The Modern Shouting Baptist, 1953, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 30 1/8 x 40 ¼ inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.415

Untitled, from the series A Man Becomes Invisible, 1952, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.434

Untitled, from the series A Man Becomes Invisible, 1952, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.465

Untitled, Chicago, Illinois, from the series The Modern Shouting Baptist, 1953, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.375

Trapped in abandoned building by a rival gang on street, Red Jackson ponders his next move, from the series Harlem Gang Leader, 1948, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.378

In mortuary Red and Herbie Levy study wounds on face of Maurice Gaines, a buddy of theirs who was found dying one night on a Harlem sidewalk, from the series Harlem Gang Leader, 1948, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.399

Fjord, Norway, 1968, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print

20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 26 1/2 x 39 5/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.395

Covering some of the stories of the past three decades was like reporting from the darkness. … Nonetheless, I have been in awe of what remained to be admired. For while evil and corruption suited certain men, there were others inclined toward greatness … And there were beautiful things to see — so beautiful they defied description. I recall an aged Norwegian guide pointing from a mountaintop down toward the splendor of a fjord, saying simply, “God did a good job on that one.”

– Gordon Parks, Moments Without Proper Names (1975)

Monreale Cathedral, Palermo, Sicily, 1964, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.441

Chimney Pots, Paris, 1964, printed in 2017

Chromogenic print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.350

Beggar Woman and Child, Portugal, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.452

Window in Paris, 1951, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.450

Former King, Carol of Romania (with wife Magda Lupescu, Princess Elena of Romania), from the series Life Visits a Haven for Exiled Royalty, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.389

Men standing in street, Paris, 1951, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.429

Sculptor Alberto Giacometti, Paris, 1951, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.383

Elderly Woman, Paris, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.466

Giorgio de Chirico, co-founder of Metaphysical painting, Rome, 1949, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.374

Political Meeting, Paris, 1951, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.424

Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini in Stromboli, Italy, 1949, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.365

Frisco Railway Station, from the series Fort Scott Revisited, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.342

Pool Hall, from the series Fort Scott Revisited, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.445

Mrs. Jefferson, from the series Fort Scott Revisited, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.373

Uncle James Parks, from the series Fort Scott Revisited, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.448

Parish Priest (Father Placidus walks in a field of winter wheat with parishioner, Louis Huss), from the series The Monks of a Kansas Abbey Lead a Cloistered Life of Devotion, 1955, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 29 ¼ x 42 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.409

Saint Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, Kansas, from the series The Monks of a Kansas Abbey Lead a Cloistered Life of Devotion, 1955, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.447

Newt’s mother, Sarah Winger, was the all-pervasive influence in his life. In a long evening walk… she tried to impart to him her deep sense of religion, from the series How It Feels to Be Black, 1963, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.382

Newt Winger is the protagonist of Parks’s autobiographical novel The Learning Tree (1968).

Saint Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, Kansas, from the series The Monks of a Kansas Abbey Lead a Cloistered Life of Devotion, 1955, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.345

Show-stoppers of collections were fabulous ball dresses like these Fath designs, from the series A Hectic Week of Paris Showings, 1951, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 37 x 44 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2013.394

Comtesse Alain de la Falaise (Maxime de la Falaise) in cotton evening dress reminiscent of styles in the late 1920s by Elsa Schiaparellifrom the series Paris Fashions, 1949, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.362

Balenciaga sheath cocktail dress, 1950, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.347

Muhammad Ali, from the series The Redemption of the Champion, 1966, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 44 1/8 x 31 1/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.410

Muhammad Ali, from the series The Redemption of the Champion, 1966, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
20 x 16 inches (1973 print size: 30 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.387

Muhammad Ali sparring, from the series The Redemption of the Champion, 1966, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.386

Muhammad Ali fists after match with Henry Cooper, London, England, from the series The Redemption of the Champion, 1966, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.463

Muhammad Ali at Lord’s Cricket Ground, St. John’s Wood, London, England, from the series The Redemption of the Champion, 1966, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.417

Muhammad Ali with child, from the series The Redemption of the Champion, 1966, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

ift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.426

Muhammad Ali, from the series The Redemption of the Champion, 1966, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.464

Alexander Calder, 1952, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 41 x 35 3/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2013.407

This photograph was among the five largest images in the gift. Parks’s choices suggest that he used size to highlight certain ideas. Large images introduce themes, while related smaller ones serve as supporting material.

This portrait of Alexander Calder shows the artist from an unusual viewpoint. His face is not entirely visible. Parks’s lens focuses on Calder’s hands, which are working on the wires of his sculpture. The result is a dynamic representation of an artist at work.

Flávio amuses smaller brothers and sisters, from the series Freedom’s Fearful Foe: Poverty, 1961, printed in 2013

Gelatin silver print
43 ¼ x 60 ¼ inches (1973 print size: 39 x 60 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2013.208

The family’s day begins at dawn. In the biggest room of the shack — it is 6 x 10 feet — 12-year-old Flávio gets himself up. From the series Freedom’s Fearful Foe: Poverty, 1961, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 30 1/2 x 43 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2013.468

Home for Da Silva family is hillside jumble of squatters’ huts beneath Rio’s famous statue of Christ, from the series Freedom’s Fearful Foe: Poverty, 1961, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 40 x 29 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2013.404

Sick and exhausted from week’s care of the family, Flávio rests on Sunday when his mother is free to look after brothers and sisters. “I am not afraid of death,” he explained earnestly to Parks. “But what will they do after?”, from the series, Freedom’s Fearful Foe: Poverty, 1961, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
24 x 20 inches (1973 print size: 45 7/8 x 29 9/16 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.413

In the shadowy slum into which she was born in Rio de Janeiro, 3-year-old Isabel da Silva cries to herself after vainly seeking comfort from her exhausted father, José. from the series Freedom’s Fearful Foe: Poverty, 1961, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print
20 x 24 inches (1973 print size: 29 9/16 x 43 1/8 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2013.400

Catalogue Now Available

Flávio amuses smaller brothers and sisters, from the series Freedom’s Fearful Foe: Poverty, 1961, printed in 2013

Gelatin silver print
43 ¼ x 60 ¼ inches (1973 print size: 39 x 60 inches)

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2013.208

Hey!

Manhattan Mercury insert for the paper’s centennial, 1984

Norman Sr., from the series What I Want, What I Am, What You Force Me to Be Is What You Are, 1967, printed in 2017

Gelatin silver print

Gift of Gordon Parks and the Gordon Parks Foundation, 2017.363