Head of Charlie Parker
Artist: Julie Macdonald (American, 1926 - 1982)
Date: about 1955
Dimensions:
21 2/5 inches (54.4 cm) high with base
Medium: Pasadena sandstone
Place of Origin: America
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number: 2021.4
Label Text:Prolific artist, collector, and civil rights champion Julie Macdonald likely met saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920–1955)—one of the most groundbreaking and influential jazz soloists in history—during his 1952 trip to California. They became close friends, most probably more, sharing a love of art, poetry, and music. Macdonald sculpted Head of Charlie Parker soon after his untimely death. Parker’s friend and biographer Robert Reisner wrote, “Charlie Parker, in the brief span of his life, crowded more living into it than any other human being.” He also lived hard, especially after the death of his young daughter in 1954, which deepened his struggles with addiction and mental illness. He died a year later at the age of 35.
Rather than smiling or playing the saxophone as in most published photographs, here Parker seems more muted and pensive. His eyes are open, but they are undefined, suggesting introspection. Despite the celebrity of her subject, Macdonald presents a version of Parker that one only saw outside of public scrutiny. As she wrote in a tribute, “Bird’s memory was uncanny. With that combination of perception and memory he translated experience through the horn. He caught the pulse of our times, the pressure, confusion, and complexity, and more; sadness, sweetness, and love.”
Rather than smiling or playing the saxophone as in most published photographs, here Parker seems more muted and pensive. His eyes are open, but they are undefined, suggesting introspection. Despite the celebrity of her subject, Macdonald presents a version of Parker that one only saw outside of public scrutiny. As she wrote in a tribute, “Bird’s memory was uncanny. With that combination of perception and memory he translated experience through the horn. He caught the pulse of our times, the pressure, confusion, and complexity, and more; sadness, sweetness, and love.”
DescriptionHead of Charlie Parker depicts a just over life-size bust of the work’s namesake. However, rather than smiling or playing the saxophone typical of most published photographs, Parker’s expression is muted and pensive; though his eyes are open, they are undefined exuding a sense of intensive introspection. This work is in dialogue with busts from the ancient to contemporary worlds represented in our collection, including ancient Egyptian sculpture, Yoruba visual traditions, and Buddhist statuary. Thus, this work will allow us to have more transhistorical and transcultural dialogues across our collection holdings
On view