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

November 4, 2018 – February 18, 2019
West 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 A fully illustrated catalog, with extensive new research and previously unpublished images, will accompany the exhibition.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.

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, 2019
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, August 31–December 29, 2019
Addison Gallery of American Art, February 1–April 26, 2020

Parks, Gordon
American, 1912 - 2006

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)