On View
Not on viewObject number2012.5
Love Letter II
Artist
Charles Wilbert White
(American, 1918-1979)
Date1977
Mediumcolor lithograph
Dimensionsimage: 30 in. × 22 1/4 in. (76.2 × 56.5 cm)
mat: 40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm)
mat: 40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm)
Credit LinePermanent Collection Fund
Exhibition History"Embracing Diverse Voices: 90 Years of African-American Art," KIA Traveling Exhibition, Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, TX (January 17 - March 20, 2016).
Round and Round, Ethel Denton Groos Gallery, November 4, 2017 - March 4, 2018
"Resilience: African American Artists as Agents of Change," at the KIA (September 14, 2019 - February 16, 2020)
"Resilience: African American Artists as Agents of Change," [Travel Version] at the Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, MI (June 6, 2021 - August, 15, 2021)Label TextLove Letter II simply and powerfully associates a mature rose blossom with a portrait framed in the round. The composition and title connect this
1977 print to an earlier work by Charles White.
Love Letter I (1971) pictured the face of political activist Angela Davis over pink roses. White created it as part of a campaign demanding Davis’s release from prison. The simulated crinkled paper associates this with his Wanted Poster series, as response to pre-Civil War posters picturing runaway slaves. Love Letter II eliminates the background and spotlights a similarly half-shaded, but older, face and a red rose.
I look to the life of my people as the fountainhead of challenging themes and monumental concepts. I strive to create an image that all mankind can personally relate to and see his dreams and ideals mirrored with hope and dignity.
White is known for sensitively rendering African-American figures with heroism and dignity. Raised on Chicago’s South Side, Charles White showed a precocious talent and became one of the most influential African-American artists of his time.
