Lt. "Wild Bill" William Walker and Lt. George Knox 332nd Fighter Group, Selfridge Field, Michigan ("A guy like Bill has got to come in—Let's wait a while longer.")

October 1943

Gordon Parks

Associated Names
Gordon Parks

Artist, American, 1912 - 2006

The image shows two men from the chest up, both positioned closely and leaning slightly forward, appearing to be engaged in observing something. Both have focused facial expressions. The man on the left has short mustache, and his hair is hidden beneath a soft aviation cap and goggles pulled up onto his forehead. The man on the right also sports a small mustache, with similar headgear and goggles, though he is also wearing dark aviator sunglasses. They are both dressed in flight gear with padded vests and are wearing headphones over their flight caps. The background features a large star painted on what appears to be the fuselage of an aircraft.
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Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Gordon Parks, New York; Gordon Parks Foundation, New York, 2006; gift to NGA, 2019.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

signed by artist, lower left in black ink: Gordon Parks; on verso, signed by artist, upper center in black ink: Gordon Parks; on recto, bottom center printed in negative: "A guy like Bill has gotta come in--Let's wait a while longer."; on verso, by unknown hand, bottom left in graphite: 06.003; bottom right: GP02601


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