Head of Charlie Parker

Artist Julie Macdonald (American, 1926 - 1982)

Place of OriginAmerica

Dateabout 1955

Dimensions21 2/5 inches (54.4 cm) high with base

MediumPasadena sandstone

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

2021.4

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 10

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

Label TextProlific 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.”Published ReferencesDown Beat magazine, 1965, illustrated on the front cover (an issue that commemorated the 10th anniversary of Parker's death).

Green, Benny, "Hero of the Jazz World," in The New York Observer, September 22, 1963.

Macdonald, Julie, "Julie Macdonald," in Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker, edited by Robert Reisner, New York, De Capo Press, 1962, pp. 138-141.

Shaw, Arnold, "Charlie Parker: Segue to Today," in Esquire's World of Jazz, edited by Lewis T. Gillenson, New York, Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1975, p. 94.

Williams, Richard, “Charlie Parker: a genius distilled,” The Guardian, March 22, 2010, G2, pp. 17-19.

Williams, Richard, “The Essence of Bird”, The Blue Moment: A blog about music, May 8, 2013, https://thebluemoment.com/2013/05/08/the-essence-of-bird/