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Bessie Fontenelle with her Son Richard

Gordon Parks, 1968

The 39-year-old Bessie is shown lying on her bed with Richard, the youngest of her 10 children. She had been beaten by her drunken husband shortly before, and retaliated by throwing a pot of boiling water on him. The photograph brings Michelangelo’s Pietà to mind: the grieving Virgin with her son. In 1968 the photograph was printed in a large format in a special photographic essay in Life magazine highlighting poverty in America’s black ghettos.

  • Artwork typephotograph
  • Object numberRP-F-2007-322
  • Dimensionsheight 378 mm x width 508 mm, height 350 mm x width 500 mm
  • Physical characteristicsontwikkelgelatinezilverdruk

Identification

  • Title(s)

    • Bessie Fontenelle with her Son Richard, Harlem, New York
    • Bessie Fontenelle with her Son Richard

  • Object type

  • Object number

    RP-F-2007-322

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • mark: ‘CS 10124’
    • signature: ‘artists proof Gordon Parks’

Creation

  • Creation

    photographer: Gordon Parks, New York (city)

  • Dating

    1968

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    ontwikkelgelatinezilverdruk

  • Dimensions

    • height 378 mm x width 508 mm
    • height 350 mm x width 500 mm

This work is about

  • Subject

Exhibitions

Acquisition and rights

  • Credit line

    Purchased with the support of Baker McKenzie

  • Acquisition

    purchase 2007

  • Copyright

    The Gordon Parks Foundation

Documentation

Persistent URL

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