American Gothic (Ella Watson)
Artist: Gordon Parks (American, 1912 - 2006)
Date: 1942 (negative)
Dimensions:
(TMA) Sheet: 13 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.;
Image: 11 13/16 x 8 7/16 in.
Medium: Gelatin-silver print
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by the Toledo Friends of Photography and with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 2010.21
Label Text:For his ironic and bitter commentary on social and racial inequality, Gordon Parks appropriated the title from and modeled his composition after the famous Depression-era painting by Grant Wood, American Gothic (1930; Art Institute of Chicago). Wood’s portrayal of a hard-working, rural father and daughter standing before their sturdy American Gothic-style farmhouse was celebrated for its evocation of quintessential American values and as a reassuring affirmation of economic well-being. Substituting Wood’s unsentimental farm family, Parks presents Ella Watson, a Black cleaning woman at the office building of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in Washington, DC, where Parks worked as a photographer. Standing somberly before an American flag, she holds a mop and a broom instead of a farmer’s pitchfork. Through dramatic lighting and selective focus, Parks carefully composed an image that calls attention to his subject’s perseverance, but also to her unequal status in the capital of the nation known for its ideals of freedom, equality, and financial advancement.
As the son of Black sharecroppers in Kansas, Parks became a keen observer of the pervasive racism that he encountered throughout American culture. In 1948 he became the first African American photojournalist at LIFE magazine, where he focused on issues of civil rights and poverty. He later became a groundbreaking filmmaker, directing the classic Black-focused movie Shaft (1971).
As the son of Black sharecroppers in Kansas, Parks became a keen observer of the pervasive racism that he encountered throughout American culture. In 1948 he became the first African American photojournalist at LIFE magazine, where he focused on issues of civil rights and poverty. He later became a groundbreaking filmmaker, directing the classic Black-focused movie Shaft (1971).
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In Collection(s)