Washington, D.C., Mrs. Ella Watson, a Government Charwoman

July 1942, printed 1960s

Gordon Parks

Artist, American, 1912 - 2006

A Black woman sits facing a round-topped mirror on a dresser, which is crowded with religious figurines and candles in this horizontal black and white photograph. In the lower right corner, the woman rests her face in one hand, that elbow laid along the window frame of an open window. She wears a ruffle-edged apron over a short-sleeved garment with dark polka dots against white. Her face is turned almost away, and her hair is pulled back. Her eyes are lowered as she gazes at a figurine of the Virgin Mary on the dresser, which is covered with a lace runner. Starting from the left on the dresser are a gourd-shaped vase with dried flowers, two vessels, three figurines of saints, and a palm-sized statuette of an elephant before a row of five candles that separates the left half of the dresser-top from the right. Two more candles flank the row, and across the right half are a second elephant, two more religious figurines, two crucifixes, and a votive candle in front of the statuette of Mary. A rosary with a pendant-sized cross hangs from the curved top of the mirror, and a framed picture of Jesus hangs to the left. The mirror reflects part of the room behind the woman, showing shoeboxes, pieces of cloth, and a pale-faced doll stacked in the far corner of the small room. The window takes up the right half of the composition, and shows a view out to a street lined with trees, cars, a Coca-Cola delivery truck packed with glass bottles, a stop sign, and a streetlight.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Julia J. Norrell

  • Dimensions

    image/sheet: 26.2 × 33.8 cm (10 5/16 × 13 5/16 in.)

  • Accession

    2015.119.1


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Julia J. Norrell, Washington, DC; gift to NGA, 2015.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

on verso, by unknown hand, top right corner in graphite: ST 1665

Wikidata ID

Q64154620


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