The Chicago-born artist Charles White (1918–79) was celebrated during his lifetime for depictions of African-American men, women and children that acquired the name “images of dignity. White’s draftsmanship, his direct address of the social and political concerns of his time, and his commitment to media that gave his art wide circulation established him as a major artist, and one with significant influence both on his contemporaries and on later generations.
Beginning with White’s early days as an artist in the Chicago of the 1930s and ’40s, moving through his time spent developing his craft in New York in the late 1940s and ’50s, and closing with his final decades as a revered figure in Los Angeles, Charles White: Black Pope explores the artist’s practice and strategies through consideration of key works. It devotes particularly close examination to his late masterwork Black Pope (Sandwich Board Man)," in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. By creating visually compelling, ideologically complex works that engage audiences on many levels, White established himself as a key figure of his time, one whose work continues to resonate today."
Esther Adler is Assistant Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
"Untitled (Bearded Man)" (c. 1949) is reproduced from 'Charles White: Black Pope.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
T Magazine
M.H. Miller
An American master, who made mysterious, almost metaphysical images of African-American dignity and ... became a role model to an entire generation of younger black disciples.
The New York Times
Holland Cotter
Hand of an angel, eye of a sage.
The New York Times
Holland Cotter
Hand of an angel, eye of a sage.
The Washington Post
Philip Kennicott
His art is seen in service to promoting ideals of African American power, dignity and beauty.
Artforum
Kerry James Marshall
If you really want to see what DRAWING can be- how image, method, and materiality fuse at the molecular level- Charles Wilbert White Jr. makes it crystal clear in some of the finest works ever created.
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“An artist must bear a special responsibility,” Charles White said in 1978. “He must be accountable for the content of his work. And that work should reflect a deep, abiding concern for humanity. He has that responsibility whether he wants it or not because he’s dealing with ideas. And ideas are power. They must be used one way or the other.” Love Letter #1 (1971) is reproduced from Charles White: Black Pope, published by MoMA in advance of the current, critically-acclaimed retrospective. continue to blog
The centerpiece of MoMA's heroic current Charles White retrospective, "Black Pope (Sandwich Board Man)" (1973) is also the subject of this concise monograph from the Museum. Inspired by a 1960s Leonard Freed photograph of a street preacher, White's pope exemplifies a mixture of 70s cool and civil rights outrage. "Although you can interpret individual details of the image—a reference to White’s birth place, to mortality, to a black identity that embraces militancy, spirituality and righteousness—its full meaning is elusive, and maybe that’s the point," Holland Cotter writes in the New York Times. "Mystery is the point… Grace, passion, coolness, toughness, beauty—like its creator, it has them all." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 10.5 in. / 64 pgs / 35 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $26.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $37 ISBN: 9781633450271 PUBLISHER: The Museum of Modern Art, New York AVAILABLE: 10/24/2017 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Text by Esther Adler.
The Chicago-born artist Charles White (1918–79) was celebrated during his lifetime for depictions of African-American men, women and children that acquired the name “images of dignity. White’s draftsmanship, his direct address of the social and political concerns of his time, and his commitment to media that gave his art wide circulation established him as a major artist, and one with significant influence both on his contemporaries and on later generations.
Beginning with White’s early days as an artist in the Chicago of the 1930s and ’40s, moving through his time spent developing his craft in New York in the late 1940s and ’50s, and closing with his final decades as a revered figure in Los Angeles, Charles White: Black Pope explores the artist’s practice and strategies through consideration of key works. It devotes particularly close examination to his late masterwork Black Pope (Sandwich Board Man)," in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art. By creating visually compelling, ideologically complex works that engage audiences on many levels, White established himself as a key figure of his time, one whose work continues to resonate today."
Esther Adler is Assistant Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
