JERRY PINKNEY Martin Luther King, Jr. and Great American Heroes
JERRY PINKNEY
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Great American Heroes
CONTENTS Foreword by William R. Valerio 2 Illustrated Works 4 Works in the Exhibition 20
January 13–April 8, 2018
FOREWORD This intimate exhibition of work by Jerry
journeys to freedom in our Stairwell
Pinkney commemorates the life and
Gallery, as we prepare for a larger, more
legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the
detailed exhibition on this theme in 2019.
fiftieth anniversary of his assassination
Woodmere places the highest value on
in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Dr. King
our collaboration with Jerry Pinkney, and
moved us closer to an ideal of equality
we look forward to being an ongoing
and freedom, even as the tragedy of his
platform for his voice as an artist in
death reminds us of the extreme sacrifice
Philadelphia, the city where he was born
and violence of racial conflict that remain
and raised. We also thank Gloria Jean
part of the American journey.
Pinkney for sharing her husband’s time
In his books, Pinkney depicts not only Dr.
and for taking part in the evolution of our
King himself, but also other characters
ideas and education programs. Special
who experience beauty and hardship
thanks to Hildy Tow, our Robert J. McNeil
on the path to self-determination and
Jr. Curator of Education, for her work in
independence. Among his earliest major
developing the exhibition and its related
projects, the artist illustrated the eminent
programming. Woodmere is indebted to
Charles L. Blockson’s groundbreaking
the power and talent of our staff, who
article “Escape from Slavery: The
partner so effortlessly in implementing
Underground Railroad,” which appeared
the activities that make an exhibition a
in the July 1984 issue of National
reality. Thank you, everyone.
Geographic. This milestone work of scholarship and collaboration with visual
WILLIAM R. VALERIO, PHD
artists transformed the understanding
The Patricia Van Burgh Allison
of the historic journey of people away
Director and CEO
from enslavement. Woodmere is pleased to present this compact selection of Pinkney’s work about this and other
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Underground Railroad, 1984, Published in National Geographic, by Jerry Pinkney (Courtesy of the artist) 3
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AND GREAT AMERICAN HEROES
JERRY PINKNEY
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STAIRWELL GALLERY Jerry Pinkney (American, born 1939) is a
Pinkney grew up in Germantown and
master watercolorist and one of the most
studied at the Philadelphia College of
beloved artists in children’s literature.
Art (now the University of the Arts). He
He has built a career creating paintings
has illustrated more than one hundred
about legendary people and characters
books and received a Caldecott Medal
whose lives exemplify a journey of moral
for The Lion and the Mouse. He was
character and freedom of spirit. This
honored with the Society of Illustrators
exhibition commemorates the legacy of
Lifetime Achievement Award and, in
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the fiftieth
2011, was inducted into its Hall of Fame;
anniversary of his assassination.
he was inducted into the American
As the artist explains, “For some fifty years, I’ve focused my artistic practice on illustrating the African American legacy, its triumphs and challenges. This grouping of nine paintings, in particular, speaks to spirited, proud people of color and their resistance to oppression and injustice. These works portray the heroic souls that sought light in a time of darkness through individual and collective acts of courage. They also remind us to remain vigilant in standing up for social justice and equity for all.”
Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012. He has received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for making “a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children” and the Coretta Scott KingVirginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement, which recognizes authors who “explore cultural and ethnic identity” with “insight, skill, and distinctive style.” His work is represented in the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Delaware Art Museum, the Brandywine River Art Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Eric
This exhibition offers a preview of a
Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and
larger, thematic presentation of the
the National Museum of Wildlife Art, as
artist’s work that Woodmere is planning
well as in private collections.
for 2019.
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JERRY PINKNEY American, born 1939
This work was initially intended for a
Martin Luther King: Standing Up for Freedom 1974-2017 Pencil, watercolor, and collage on Arches watercolor paper
Company. Pinkney’s research on
Courtesy of the artist
in those archives, an unquenchable thirst
promotional calendar celebrating black history commissioned by the Seagram significant figures for the calendar led him to New York’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where he found one of the world’s most extensive collections of materials on African American, African diaspora, and African experiences. He explains, “I discovered, for knowledge. I became a student of American history.” This portrait was not included in the Seagram calendar. The artist rediscovered the work while searching through paintings for this exhibition and reworked it, adding the collage elements.
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JERRY PINKNEY American, born 1939
Pinkney also created this work for the
The Black Church: Andrew Bryan, Richard Allen, and Absalom Jones 1977 Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper
Freedom, it was also unpublished, having
Published by the Philadelphia Daily News
article.
Courtesy of the artist
The painting features three renowned
Seagram Company calendar project. Like Martin Luther King: Standing Up for been rejected by the company, who felt that the subject of the black church should not be included in the calendar. They eventually included an alternate image of the founders of black churches. This painting was later published by the Philadelphia Daily News to accompany an
church leaders. Andrew Bryan (above center, depicted in profile) founded the First African Baptist Church in Savannah in 1794. Richard Allen (lower right) was a minister, educator, and writer; he founded Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1794 and the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1816. Absalom Jones (lower left) was an African American abolitionist and clergyman. The first African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States, Jones founded the African Episcopal Church of Saint Thomas in Philadelphia in 1794.
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JERRY PINKNEY American, born 1939
Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator
Mary McLeod Bethune: The First Lady of the Struggle 1977 Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper
lives of African Americans through
From Mary McLeod Bethune
Administration in the Franklin Roosevelt
and advocate for educational equality. She devoted her life to improving the education, and political and economic empowerment. She founded BethuneCookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida, served as president of the National Council of Negro Women, and was director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth administration.
Courtesy of the artist
Pinkney created this work for a children’s book by Eloise Greenfield about the life of McLeod Bethune. This illustration of her standing with her students is the cover image.
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JERRY PINKNEY American, born 1939
This Is My Chance to Run Away 1996 Pencil, watercolor, and collage on Arches watercolor paper From Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman Courtesy of the artist
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JERRY PINKNEY American, born 1939
This and This Is My Chance to Run Away
Moses of Her People 1996 Pencil, watercolor, and collage on Arches watercolor paper
written by Alan Schroeder. The book
From Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman
subsequently made more than nineteen
Courtesy of the artist
trips back to the South to rescue more
are illustrations for Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, a children’s book is a fictionalized account of Tubman’s childhood on a Maryland plantation. Born Araminta (Minty for short) Ross, Tubman later changed her first name to Harriet, after her mother. She was born into slavery in 1822, but escaped and
than three hundred enslaved people through the Underground Railroad. She was affectionately known in the North and South as “Moses,” because, like Moses, she helped guide her people to freedom. She was also a Civil War nurse, and a cook and scout for the Union Army. Later in her life she educated former enslaved people and was active in the fight for women’s suffrage. While researching at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in the 1970s, Pinkney came across an 1869 biography of Tubman, Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People, by Sarah Bradford. His illustrations depict the courageous young girl who grew up to become a civil rights hero and one of the most inspiring figures in American history.
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JERRY PINKNEY American, born 1939
“How I Got Over,” Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Rev. Ralph Abernathy 1980s Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper Courtesy of the artist
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JERRY PINKNEY American, born 1939
Pinkney created Rosa Parks: Sitting Down
Rosa Parks: Sitting Down for Freedom c. 1991-92 Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper
Story, by Parks with James Haskins.
Courtesy of the artist
symbolizing her courageous refusal to
for Freedom for a poster advertising the children’s book Rosa Parks: My Pinkney wanted to tell as much of Parks’s story as he could in a single image. He based her likeness on a photographic portrait from around 1955. He included a group of protestors holding signs, and in the reflection of her face is a bus, give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, on December 1, 1955. Parks is widely recognized as the “mother” of the civil rights movement. Her refusal to surrender her seat triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott and sparked civil rights activism throughout the country.
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JERRY PINKNEY American, born 1939
An African American folk hero, John
Two Twenty-Pound Sledgehammers 1994 Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper
a mechanical drill. Ballads about him
From John Henry
the author’s note Lester explains, “I called
Henry worked on the railroads, swinging his hammers harder and faster than began circulating in the 1870s, and some historians believe he is based on an actual person. This illustration was created for the book John Henry, written by Julius Lester. In Jerry [Pinkney] and asked him what he
Courtesy of the artist
saw in John Henry. Jerry responded by talking about the transcendent quality of John Henry’s humanity. As he talked, the image of Martin Luther King Jr. came to me and it was then I knew I wanted to do the book. . . . I’m still not certain what the connection is between John Henry and King. However, I suspect it is the connection all of us feel to both figures— namely, to have the courage to hammer until our hearts break and to leave our mourners smiling in their tears.”
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WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION All works are by Jerry Pinkney (American, born 1939) and are on loan courtesy of the artist.
Martin Luther King: Standing Up for Freedom, 1974-2017 Pencil, watercolor, and collage on Arches watercolor paper, 20 x 14 1/2 in. The Black Church: Andrew Bryan, Richard Allen, and Absalom Jones, 1977 Published in the Philadelphia Daily News Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 20 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. Mary McLeod Bethune: The First Lady of the Struggle, from Mary McLeod Bethune, 1977 Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 12 3/4 x 19 1/2 in.
Underground Railroad, 1984 Published in National Geographic
Two Twenty-Pound Sledgehammers, from John Henry, 1994
Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 16 3/4 x 16 7/8 in.
Pencil and watercolor on Arches watercolor paper, 12 1/2 x 15 3/4 in.
“How I Got Over,� Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, 1980s
This Is My Chance to Run Away, from Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, 1996
Pencil on Arches watercolor paper, 10 x 10 1/2 in. Rosa Parks: Sitting Down for Freedom, c. 1991-92 Pencil, watercolor, and gouache on Arches watercolor paper, 14 7/8 x 19 3/4 in.
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Pencil, watercolor, and collage on Arches watercolor paper, 13 7/8 x 11 1/2 in. Moses of Her People, from Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, 1996 Pencil, watercolor, and collage on Arches watercolor paper, 13 3/4 x 11 1/4 in.
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Woodmere Art Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Š 2018 Woodmere Art Museum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher. Photography by Rick Echelmeyer unless otherwise noted.
Support provided in part by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.
Front cover: Martin Luther King: Standing Up for Freedom, 1974-2017, by Jerry Pinkney (Courtesy of the artist)
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