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Home>Exhibitions>Past>2018>Gordon Parks: The New Tide, 1940-1950

# Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950

November 4, 2018 – February 18, 2019West Building, Ground Floor, Outer Tier Galleries

Gordon Parks, *Trapped in abandoned building by a rival gang on street, Red Jackson ponders his next move*, 1948, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection)

**This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.**

 During the 1940s American photographer Gordon Parks (1912–2006) grew from a self-taught photographer making portraits and documenting everyday life in Saint Paul and Chicago to a visionary professional shooting for *Ebony*, *Vogue*, *Fortune*, and *Life.*For the first time, the formative decade of Parks’s 60-year career is the focus of an exhibition, which brings together 150 photographs and ephemera—including magazines, books, letters, and family pictures. The exhibition will illustrate how Parks’s early experiences at the Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information, and Standard Oil (New Jersey) as well as his close relationships with Roy Stryker, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison, helped shape his groundbreaking style. A fully illustrated catalog, with extensive new research and previously unpublished images, will accompany the exhibition.

The exhibition is curated by Philip Brookman, consulting curator, department of photographs, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Self-Portrait*, 1941, gelatin silver print, Private Collection. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Marva Trotter Louis, Chicago, Illinois*, 1941, gelatin silver print, The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Charles White in front of his mural “Chaos of the American Negro,”* 1941, gelatin silver print, Charles White Archives. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Langston Hughes, Chicago*, December 1941, gelatin silver print, The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Anacostia, D.C. Frederick Douglass housing project. Mother watching her children as she prepares the evening meal.* June 1942, gelatin silver print, Photography Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Washington, D.C. Young boy standing in the doorway of his home on Seaton Road in the northwest section. His leg was cut off by a streetcar while he was playing in the street.* June 1942, gelatin silver print, printed later, The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Washington, D.C. Government charwoman*, July 1942, gelatin silver print, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Washington, D.C. Grandchildren of Mrs. Ella Watson, a government charwoman (Children with Doll)*, July 1942, gelatin silver print, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, The People’s Voice*, Harlem, New York*, August 1943, gelatin silver print, Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks,*Lt. George Knox. 332nd Fighter Group training at Selfridge Field, Michigan*, October 1943, gelatin silver print mounted on board with caption, The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Pittsburgh, Pa. The cooper’s plant at the Penola, Inc. grease plant, where large drums and containers are reconditioned.* March 1944, gelatin silver print, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Captain Bill Lafond, 60-year-old fisherman at Gloucester, owns three boats. He is of Dutch French ancestry and has been going to sea since he was 13.* November 1944, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection). Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Drug store “cowboys.” Black Diamond, Alberta, Canada.* September 1945, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection). Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks,*View of passenger aboard a Staten Island ferry, New York City.* August 1948, gelatin silver print, Standard Oil (New Jersey) Collection, Photographic Archives, University of Louisville. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Untitled, Harlem, New York*, 1947, gelatin silver print, The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Off on My Own*, 1948, gelatin silver print, The Gordon Parks Foundation. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Trapped in abandoned building by a rival gang on street, Red Jackson ponders his next move*, 1948, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection). Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Harlem Rooftops*, 1948, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund. Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
Gordon Parks, *Paris Fashions*, 1949, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection). Courtesy of and © The Gordon Parks Foundation

**Organization:** Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in collaboration with The Gordon Parks Foundation.

**Sponsors:** Bank of America is proud to be the national sponsor of Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940-1950Generous support is also kindly provided by the Trellis Fund.Additional support comes from The Exhibition Circle of the National Gallery of Art.

**Passes:** Admission is always free and passes are not required

**Attendance:** 71,153

**Catalog:**Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940-1950. By Philip Brookman et al. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 2018.

**Other venues:** The Cleveland Museum of Art, March 23–June 9, 2019Amon Carter Museum of American Art, August 31–December 29, 2019Addison Gallery of American Art, February 1–April 26, 2020

                    - Parks, Gordon
                    - American , 1912 - 2006

Press 

EducationHigh School Studio WorkshopsVarious dates in December, January, and February

EducationSchool ToursJanuary 7 – February 15

Film ProgramsThe Films of Gordon ParksJanuary 12 – March 8East Building Auditorium

Public SymposiaJohn Wilmerding Symposium on American Art: Artists and the American CommunityFebruary 8 at 10:30East Building Auditorium

Film ProgramsHip-Hop’s Great Day: Gordon Parks and a Legacy of Photographic InspirationFebruary 17 at 2:00East Building Auditorium

LecturesDiamonstein-Spielvogel Lecture Series Alex KatzMarch 9 at 12:00East Building Auditorium

EducationTeacher WorkshopsVarious dates

EducationWriting SalonVarious dates

                  - Hip-Hop’s Great Day: Gordon Parks and a Legacy of Photographic Inspiration
                  -                                     Audio, Released:                                    April 30, 2019, (53:22 minutes)                                
                  - Hip-Hop’s Great Day: Gordon Parks and a Legacy of Photographic Inspiration
                  -                                     Video, Released:                                    April 30, 2019, (53:22 minutes)                                
                  - Introduction to the Exhibition—Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
                  -                                     Video, Released:                                    December 4, 2018, (55:07 minutes)                                
                  - Introduction to the Exhibition—Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
                  -                                     Audio, Released:                                    November 27, 2018, (60:36 minutes)                                
                  - Press Event: Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950
                  -                                     Audio, Released:                                    October 30, 2018, (14:56 minutes)                                

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