James Farmer
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Object Details
- Artist
- Alice Neel, 28 Jan 1900 - 13 Oct 1984
- Sitter
- James Farmer, 12 Jan 1920 - 9 Jul 1999
- Exhibition Label
- Born Marshall, Texas
- James Farmer first experienced racial segregation at age three, when his mother had to explain to him that he could not buy a soda at a local drugstore because he was black. He never forgot that incident. Inspired by the nonviolent protest tactics of Mahatma Gandhi, Farmer helped found the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942 and began organizing sit-ins to protest discrimination in public accommodations. In 1961, he launched the Freedom Rides to end segregation in interstate transportation and in train and bus station waiting rooms. This initiative made national headlines when two buses carrying CORE members were firebombed and the riders were beaten by a white mob outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Alice Neel pictured Farmer “full of anger” in this portrait created in 1964, the same year that three CORE members were murdered in Mississippi.
- Nacido en Marshall, Texas
- James Farmer experimentó la segregación racial por primera vez a la edad de tres años, cuando su madre tuvo que explicarle que no podía comprar un refresco en una cafetería porque era negro. Nunca olvidó ese incidente. Inspirado por las tácticas de protesta pacífica de Mahatma Gandhi, Farmer ayudó a fundar el Congreso de Igualdad Racial (CORE en inglés) en 1942 y comenzó a organizar sentadas para protestar contra la discriminación en los establecimientos públicos. En 1961 comenzó los “Freedom Rides” (viajes por la libertad) para poner fin a la segregación en el transporte interestatal y en las salas de espera de las estaciones de trenes y autobuses. Esta iniciativa hizo noticia en la prensa nacional cuando dos autobuses donde viajaban miembros de CORE fueron atacados con bombas incendiarias y los viajeros fueron apaleados por una turba de blancos en las afueras de Birmingham, Alabama. Alice Neel presenta a Farmer “lleno de ira” en este retrato realizado en 1964, el mismo año en que tres miembros de CORE fueron asesinados en Misisipi.
- Provenance
- Richard Neel and Hartley S. Neel, sons of the artist; gift 2000 to NPG
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Hartley S. Neel and Richard Neel
- 1964
- Object number
- NPG.2000.60
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © 1984, Estate of Alice Neel
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 111.1 x 76.8 x 2.5cm (43 3/4 x 30 1/4 x 1")
- Frame: 116.8 x 81.9 x 4.4cm (46 x 32 1/4 x 1 3/4")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- James Farmer: Male
- James Farmer: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\Civil rights leader
- James Farmer: Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2000.60
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Usage conditions apply
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm499edb3cc-6677-41b2-b562-e4c00ef032d5
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