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Frederick Douglass

1951
(American, 1918–1979)
(American, 1920–2003)
America, 20th century
lithograph
John L. Severance Fund 1995.225
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Did You Know?

In addition to his work as an abolitionist, Frederick Douglass also supported women's rights and attended a convention for women's suffrage on February 20, 1895, the day of his death.

Description

Charles White worked with Robert Blackburn, an African American master lithographer, to create this depiction of the abolitionist and civil rights leader Frederick Douglass (1817–1895). White felt that the images of black Americans that proliferated throughout art history were, in his words, "a plague of distortions," and he sought to create his own representations that heroicized such figures. Here, Douglass—an escaped slave—meets the viewer's gaze confidently and directly, spotlit by a white border.
Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass

1951

Charles White, Robert Blackburn

(American, 1918–1979), (American, 1920–2003)
America, 20th century

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