[The introduction to this series of posts is here.]
“In 1976 Charles White provided a drawn rendering of Leadbelly for the record that accompanied the eponymously titled biopic of the singer’s life, directed by Gordon Parks. This was not the first drawing of Leadbelly that White had produced. For that matter, White had produced a significant number of drawings of African American guitar players, signifying the extent to which White saw within African American music much that sustained and reflected the lives of his people. The drawing of Leadbelly on the record sleeve depicted a man sitting atop a pile of rocks (themselves evocative of the chain gang), strumming his guitar. Not surprisingly, given that the man – a prisoner wearing distinctive striped pants that were at one time regulation prison attire – is manacled at his bare feet, the guitar player carries a somewhat pained expression on his face.
Within the film itself, the life of legendary blues and folk singer Huddie Leadbetter, (nicknamed Leadbelly) is recounted. Much of the film is set within the context of Leadbelly’s life in prisons and the chain gangs that were such a dreaded aspect of incarceration. With Roger E. Mosely playing the part of Huddie Ledbetter, Parks’ film emerged alongside a significant number of the Blaxploitation films common at the time. Indeed, several years earlier, Parks was responsible for directing the defining film of the Blaxploitation era, Shaft, a 1971 American action-crime film which revolved around a private detective named John Shaft, who is hired by a Harlem mobster to rescue his daughter from the Italian gangsters who have kidnapped her.
Amongst the credits on the back of this 1976 release by ABC records is Cover illustration: Charles White.
In its auction of February 17, 2009, Swann auction house, New York, offered for sale Study for Lead Belly, graphite and charcoal on vellum paper, circa 1978.”
“In 1975 Charles White provided a drawn rendering of the legendary folk hero, John Henry, for the cover of John Oliver Killens’ book A Man Ain't Nothing But a Man: The Adventures of John Henry (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1975). John Henry, the American super hero who was said to have engaged in a victorious struggle with a new-fangled steam drill, a struggle in which though victorious, cost John Henry his life.
The book was a colorful retelling of the story of John Henry, who was said to have worked as a steel-driving man — a man tasked with hammering a steel drill into rock to make holes for explosives to blast the rock, in constructing a railroad tunnel. According to legend, John Henry’s prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam-powered hammer, a race that he won only to die in victory, with hammer in hand as his heart gave out. The story of John Henry is told in a classic folk song, which exists in many versions, and has been the subject of numerous stories, plays, books, and novels. This work by John Oliver Killens was one such work.
For his drawing, White rendered John Henry as a giant of man, full of determination, quiet confidence, strength and resolve. There was something of the heavyweight boxer about White’s depiction. Here was a man of destiny, who when called on, would, with efficiency, get the job done and bring down an adversary, at any cost. Arms folded, bare-chested, relaxed, pensive, this was truly a magnificent rendering of John Henry. Within his drawing, White utilised the distinctive partially obscured snatches of text that were, [for a time], such a feature of his work…. There was in White’s drawing, an evocation of the sledgehammer, looming large over the formidable physique of this historic folk hero.
The book jacket informed the reader that John Oliver Killens was ‘currently writer-in-residence at Howard University.’ The blurb continued, ‘Mr. Killens writes of John Henry: ‘Ahead of his time, John Henry saw before most men that man must control the machine or ultimately become its slave. This is the ultimate meaning of his life which he gave in the struggle against the machine.’
The credit on the jacket merely stated Jacket painting by Charles White.”
“[….] This particular issue [of Freedomways], Vol. 16, No. 1 Winter 1976 (First Quarter) carried on its cover a very recent lithograph by Charles White, The Prophet, 1975-1976, 27" x 36.5". The Prophet marked a new departure for White, in that it was a move away from the weighty social realism of his monochrome drawings. This particular issue of Freedomways was its 15th anniversary issue.”
“This particular issue of Freedomways, Vol. 18, No. 1 Winter 1978 (First Quarter) carried on its cover a work by Charles White, dating from 1961. Awaken from the Unknowing was a drawing of a young African American woman, studying, her copious papers spread across the table at which she reads and learns. The work was charcoal and Wolff crayon on paperboard, its dimensions being 31 x 56 inches/78.7 x 142.2 cm.
There were no further references to White beyond a cover credit of ‘Cover Art by Charles White,’ though the inside cover carried a full page advert for a limited edition folio of six Charles White reproductions, published by Freedomways.”
“In the wake of Charles White’s death [April 2, 1918 – October 3, 1979], there were a number of celebratory evaluations of his life and work that appeared in print. Not surprisingly, given White’s longstanding association with Freedomways journal, there was a special issue on White that was Volume 20, Number 3, 1980. If ever evidence were needed, not only of the unprecedented and unequaled status achieved by White as a portrayer of his people, but also of the unbounded love, respect and adulation he received, this was it.
The Contents pages attest to nature of the issue, packed as it was with heartfelt testimonials and reflections on what this great artist meant to so many different people.
- Editorial - Charles White: Art and Soul
- ‘First and foremost, an artist”—Edmund Gordon
- ‘The story of White’s art is the story of a struggle’—Peter Clothier
- ‘Charles White was a drawer’—Benny Andrews
- ‘He was at home creatively in any locale’—Eldzier Cortor
- ‘He will always be a Chicago artist to me’—Margaret G. Burroughs
- Charles White—Nikki Giovanni
- Charcoal Blues—Tom Feelings
- Charles White In Person—Sharon G. Fitzgerald
- On the Road With Charlie White—Benjamin Horowitz
- ‘He could make change in harmony with the demands of life’—Frances White
- ‘His influence caused me to turn out little Charles Whites’—John Biggers
- ‘His special gift for teaching...’—Richard Wyatt, Jr.
- To Our Colleague—Romare Bearden, Ernest Crichlow, Elton C. Fax, Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee Smith, Hale Woodruff
- ‘The impact of his art crossed the borders of North America’—Academy of the Arts, German Democratic Republic
- ‘He was an implacable critic of his own creations’—John Pittman
- "He took his art more seriously than he did himself’—John Oliver Killens
- Brothuhs—Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier
- ‘We are of the same sidewalks’—Lorraine Hansberry
- ‘We got the message and are grateful’—M. J. Hewitt
- ‘They loved him, the people did’—Lerone Bennett, Jr.
- A Charles White Bibliography—Ernest Kaiser and Benjamin Horowitiz
- Several pages of Greetings
With contributions from gallerists, fellow artists, editors, writers, collectors and other friends and professionals with whom White interacted, this issue of Freedomways was a truly remarkable document. With its contributions from luminaries and visionaries such as Edmund Gordon, Benny Andrews, Eldzier Cortor, Margaret G. Burroughs, Nikki Giovanni, Tom Feelings, John Biggers, Romare Bearden, Ernest Crichlow, Elton C. Fax, Jacob Lawrence, Hughie Lee Smith, Hale Woodruff, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Lorraine Hansberry, and Lerone Bennett, Jr., this is as stellar a cast of contributors as could be imagined. Hansberry for example, was represented by a text originally published in 1961 as the Foreword to the catalogue of the ACA Gallery’s Charles White exhibition.
A selection of Charles White’s works appeared in a section of the magazine. A measure of just how talented White was can be ascertained from one of the reproductions, executed by White when he just 7 years old. The work in oil depicted a house, a tree set in a rural setting. The work had the appearance of having been produced by an artist significantly older than White’s 7 years. (A different work, by an equally young White, appeared in his book Images of Dignity (Ward Ritchie Press, 1967). That particular work, featuring a cabin, set in a forest clearing, with mountains in the background was truly a remarkably accomplished ink drawing.)
Ernest Kaiser and Benjamin Horowitiz’s Bibliography was an extraordinarily important section, offering as it did a comprehensive guide to material on White published up to the beginning of June 1980.
The cover of this Freedomways issue featured White’s Sound of Silence lithograph from 1978. Such work marked a new departure for White, in that it was a move away from the weighty social realism of his monochrome drawings.
The back inside back cover and back cover featured a photograph of White working on his Mary McLeod Bethune Mural, 1978 (Los Angeles Public Library, Exposition Park) and a portrait of White, respectively. A detail of the Mary McLeod Bethune Mural appeared in the inside front cover.”
“Shortly after Charles White’s death, his drawing Let's Walk Together, from the early 1950s, was used on the cover of a brochure by Ray O. Light. Ray O. Light (which may well have been a play on ray of light) was a producer of revolutionary material, espousing Marxism-Leninism. This pamphlet was titled The Founding of The Black United Front and Its Revolutionary Potential. Published in December 1980, the only reference to the artist was ‘Drawing by Charles White,’ which appeared below the drawing on the cover.
A sense of the politics espoused in the publication can be ascertained from its Table of Contents:
- THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL BLACK UNITED FRONT
- SOME TASKS FOR MARXIST-LENINISTS IN THE BUILDING OF THE NATIONAL BLACK UNITED FRONT
- Marxism-Leninism vs. White Chauvinism and Narrow Nationalism on the Afro-American National Question
- Presentation of the Problem
- Marxist-Leninism Tasks on the Afro-American National Question in the Building of the National Black United Front
- Marxism-Leninism vs. ’Left’ Adventurism and Bourgeois Nationalist Capitulation in Strategy and Tactics
- Presentation of the Problem
- Marxist-Leninism Tasks on Strategy and Tactics in the Building of the National Black United Front
- Marxism-Leninism vs. ‘Left’ Sectarianism and Bourgeois Reformist Tailism on Building the National Black United Front Organization
- Presentation of the Problem
- Tasks of the Marxist-Leninists in the Building of the National Black United Front Organization.”
“After his passing in 1979, Charles White’s images would still be used to illustrate record sleeves. To this end, the sleeve of a 1981 release, Love Byrd, by Donald Byrd and 125th Street, N.Y.C., featured a work by White. The piece in question was Silent Song #2 (Nocturne), 1969, an etching on heavy cream wove paper, measuring 324 x 351 mm. On the sleeve notes, the illustration (here untitled) was credited to White, though no other details were given. Though Silent Song #2 (Nocturne) dated from 1969, beneath the bottom left corner of the image their appeared a small copyright symbol followed by 1961 Heritage Gallery. At the time of the release of Love Byrd, all bar a very small number of the records featuring illustrations by White had been released on the Vanguard label.
Musician Donald Byrd had been one of the stars and friends who participated in a celebration of White’s life and work, that took place shortly after his passing, at the Kinsey Auditorium of Los Angeles’ Museum of Science and Industry. Byrd and his band performed at the event.”
Please note: Our last two posts (9 and 10) in this series will be devoted to book jacket covers, largely of titles about White’s life and art, but some of books that treat subjects directly related to White’s moral and political values and commitments as those mesh with his well-considered aesthetic choices with regard to style and media. However, the end of this series does not mean the end of our concern with White’s life and art, which I will continue to discuss on occasion in light of my recent research.
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