Plate from Letter from Birmingham City Jail

2007

Faith Ringgold, author Martin Luther King Jr., printer Curlee Raven Holten

Associated Names
Faith Ringgold

Artist, American, 1930 - 2024

Curlee Raven Holton

Printer, American, born 1951

This is a painting of a group of people seated in an auditorium with a person standing at a lectern. The painting depicts an audience seated in rows of brown benches, attentively facing a speaker or presenter positioned to the left. The figures are represented with simplified, stylized features, using bold outlines and a vibrant palette that blends contrasting colors like pinks, blues, greens, and blacks. Above the audience is a multi-paneled window or decorative partition composed of curved geometric shapes interspersed with silhouettes. The speaker appears to be addressing the group, with papers or a book on the lectern in front of them. In the lower foreground, there is a vase filled with abstractly rendered flowers. The style is graphic and reminiscent of Pop Art, with its use of flat colors and distinctive outline.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    screenprint from an illustrated book with eight screenprints

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Ruth Fine in honor of Michele Wallace

  • Dimensions

    overall (closed): 39.8 × 33.2 × 4.9 cm (15 11/16 × 13 1/16 × 1 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2021.80.27.6

Associated Artworks

See all 8 artworks

Frontispiece from Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Faith Ringgold, Martin Luther King Jr., Limited Editions Club, Curlee Raven Holton

2007

This is a photograph of a book cover. The cover is a red fabric with a rectangular black label in the center, bordered by a gold line, where the title "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" is printed in gold lettering.

Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Faith Ringgold, Martin Luther King Jr., Limited Editions Club, Curlee Raven Holton

2007

This is a painting featuring a scene with a church and hooded figures. The artwork shows four figures in white with extended arms, floating in a blue sky. Below them is a depiction of a church with a domed roof, next to four hooded figures in white with blank expressions against a dark background. The painting includes a white cross with the words "16th Street Baptist Church" in the foreground. The style is reminiscent of Faith Ringgold, utilizing bold imagery for social commentary.

Plate from Letter from Birmingham City Jail

Faith Ringgold, Martin Luther King Jr., Limited Editions Club, Curlee Raven Holton

2007


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The artist; to Ruth Fine, Philadelphia; gift to NGA, 2021

Associated Names

Inscriptions

"Faith Ringgold" colophon, graphite.


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