Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006
2. Riley, Casey (Curator)
3. Brookman, Philip
4. Harvey, Melanee C.
5. Thomas, Hank Willis, 1976-
6. Tillet, Salamishah
7. Willis, Deborah, 1948-
8. Luber, Katherine Crawford, 1961-
9. Kunhardt, Peter W., Jr., 1982-
10. Minneapolis Institute of Art, issuing body, host institution
11. Gordon Parks Foundation, issuing body

Description

1. 189 pages : illustrations (some color), facsimiles, portraits; 30 cm

Summary

1. Gordon Parks's 1942 portrait of government worker Ella Watson, "American Gothic," not only connects the intimacy of one person's life with a national state of affairs but also engages with a larger history of American images by referring to and reinterpreting Grant Wood's celebrated 1930 painting of the same name. Created as part of a collaboration between the photographer and his subject, it is at once a record of one woman's position within the racial, professional and economic hierarchies that stratified the nation's capital and Parks's visual reckoning with the realities of living in racially segregated Washington, D.C. Through his work with Watson--a custodian in the government building where he worked--Parks composed a portrait of Black life by focusing on everyday activities, from work routines to family meals and church services. The resulting photographs show Watson as a multidimensional figure, cherished by her community and vitally important within the civic sphere.

Uniform title

1. American Gothic (Steidl)

Alternative title

1. Gordon Parks and Ella Watson
2. Gordon Parks and Ella Watson, 1942.

Subject

1. Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006 -- Exhibitions
2. Watson, Ella, 1883-1980 -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
3. Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006
4. 1900-1999
5. Women cleaning personnel -- Washington (D.C.) -- History -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
6. Janitors -- Washington (D.C.) -- History -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
7. Civil service -- Washington (D.C.) -- History -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
8. African Americans -- Washington (D.C.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
9. African Americans -- Washington (D.C.) -- Social conditions -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
10. African Americans -- Segregation -- History -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
11. African American women -- History -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
12. Occupational segregation -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
13. African Americans in art -- History -- 20th century -- Exhibitions
14. Documentary photography -- United States -- Exhibitions
15. Photography -- Social aspects -- Exhibitions
16. Portrait photography -- 20th century -- Exhibitions
17. African Americans -- Segregation -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
18. Women cleaning personnel -- Washington (D.C.) -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
19. Janitors -- Washington (D.C.) -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
20. African American women -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
21. African Americans in art -- 20th century -- Exhibitions
22. African American photographers -- 20th century -- Exhibitions
23. Janitors
24. Civil service
25. African Americans -- Social life and customs
26. African Americans
27. African Americans -- Social conditions
28. African Americans -- Segregation
29. African American women
30. Occupational segregation
31. African Americans in art
32. Documentary photography
33. Photography -- Social aspects
34. Photography
35. Portrait photography
36. African American photographers
37. Manners and customs
38. Social conditions
39. Women cleaning personnel
40. United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
41. United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945 -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions
42. United States
43. Washington (D.C.)

Genre/Form

1. Exhibition catalogs.
2. Pictorial works.
3. History.

Contents

1. Foreword / Dr. Katherine Crawford Luber and Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr. -- Seeing Ella / Deborah Willis -- "Washington could now have a conversation with her portrait" : venerating Ella Watson / Casey Riley -- Gordon Parks and American justice, 1942 / Philip Brookman -- "Think and pray" : Verbrycke Spiritual Church and Ella Watson's religious worldview / Melanee C. Harvey -- Plates -- Ella Watson's government personnel records / Philip Brookman -- "She was always so big to us" : Ella Watson as style and substance / Salamishah Tillet -- Framing American gothic / Hank Willis Thomas -- List of plates -- Acknowledgments -- Contributors.

Call number

1. Sc F 25-161

Note

1. Accompanies the exhibition "Gordon Parks and Ella Watson, 1942" held at Minneapolis Institute of Art, January 6-June 23, 2024.
2. Foreword by Dr. Katherine Crawford Luber and Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr.

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references.

Title

1. American Gothic : Gordon Parks and Ella Watson / edited by Casey Riley and Philip Brookman ; with essays by Philip Brookman, Melanee C. Harvey, Casey Riley, Hank Willis Thomas, Salamishah Tillet, Deborah Willis ; series editor, Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr.

Publisher

1. Göttingen, Germany : Steidl ; Pleasantville, New York : The Gordon Parks Foundation ; Minneapolis, Minnesota : Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2024.

Edition

1. First edition.

Type of content

1. still image
2. text

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references.

Local note

1. Schomburg copy with dust jacket.

Chronological term

1. 1900-1999

Added author

1. Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006.
2. Riley, Casey (Curator), editor, writer of added commentary, organizer.
3. Brookman, Philip, editor, writer of added commentary.
4. Harvey, Melanee C., writer of added commentary.
5. Thomas, Hank Willis, 1976- writer of added commentary.
6. Tillet, Salamishah, writer of added commentary.
7. Willis, Deborah, 1948- writer of added commentary.
8. Luber, Katherine Crawford, 1961- writer of foreword.
9. Kunhardt, Peter W., Jr., 1982- editor, writer of added commentary.
10. Minneapolis Institute of Art, issuing body, host institution.
11. Gordon Parks Foundation, issuing body.

Added title

1. Gordon Parks and Ella Watson, 1942.

ISBN

1. 9783969992517 (hardcover)
2. 3969992516 (hardcover)

Research call number

1. Sc F 25-161
2. JQF 25-1015