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Period: to
The Greater 1960s Art Period
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Street Shadows
One of Jacob Lawrence's career defining pieces. The 1959 emergence of Street Shadows was a part of his representational paintings. Here he looks at an urban block, probably in Harlem. The figures are stylized and juxtapose the abstract art of the time. -
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim museum is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It began as a Non-Objective Painting Museum in 1939, and found a home with this building designed by Frank Lloyd and George Cohen in 1959. The building has amazing spiral walkways which parallel the outside structure. The architectural style falls under the Modern Movement. -
A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry's incredible play has remained one of the most beloved in the world. The play embraces the idea of a Black family moving forward from the projects to assimilate into a neighborhood which rejects their presence. Hansberry's play also looks at the idea of dreams as a motif and encourages family connection. -
We Real Cool
LISTEN Gwendolyn Brook's masterpiece poem "We Real Cool" is a simple poem with lots of meaning for the time period in which it was created. Her careful use of wording and repetition leads the reader to realize the importance of the young men she writes about in their absence from school. This is an incredible piece of literature. -
To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is one of the finest pieces of literature in American history. The Pulitzer Prize winning book is loosely based on Lee's observations growing up in the Jim Crow South. It delves into the well-written characters of Atticus Finch, a lawyer dealing with the racial divide as he defends Tom Robinson. The story insights issues with race, childhood apathy, and group-think. -
The Store
Claes Oldenburg's The Store is a masterpiece sculpture made of painted plaster, ceramic plates, a metal platter, and cups in glass-and-metal. It depicts the simplicity or irony of American life. His work theoretically takes a gander at the everyday items, making them museum treasures, supporting philosophies we've studied this semester. -
Traditional 1960's Home
A. Quincy Jones was an incredible architect who constructed many homes during the 1960s, including this house. Most of his buildings were shaped like squares, a then modern approach to family living. These styles of homes are still treasured, as they are reminiscent of 1960s pool parties, Ike & Tina Turner, and the era of American Bandstand. -
The Space Needle
At 605 ft. tall, The Space Needle rests in Seatlle and was created by John Graham & Company. It remains in use as an obsevation tower. 2.3 million visitors attended the 1962 World's Fair, where it debuted. It held a distinction as the tallest structure west of the Mississipi River for a long time. -
Blowin' In The Wind
LISTEN
Bob Dylan's masterpiece opus is reflective of the social movement of the 1960s outside of the Black experience. As a message song, it ranked at #14 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. The aesthetic qualities of the song are found in the haunting rythm of the guitar which couples with Dylan's shy but steady voice. The melody is an interpolation of an Old Negro Spiritual, No More Auction Block. -
Mississippi Goddam
LISTEN Incredible pianist/composer Nina Simone penned Mississipi Goddam as a tribute to the fallen people within the southern states during the 1960s. Her revolutionary song was a leading force in the Civil Rights Movement, and was no less composed traditionally than a Bach piece. The composition uses a showtune style in an allegro march to provide a soundtrack for the unrest of Black Americans during the 1960s. -
The Problem We All Live With
Norman Rockwell's painting is an icon for the Civil Rights Movement, as it shows the conditions surrounding six year old Ruby Bridges walking to desegregate American grade schools. It is oil on canvas and is currently in Massachusetts at the Norman Rockwell Museum. The piece was originally published in Look, and allowed for the Black American to be the subject of a mainstream painting during this era of art. -
Look
Joe Tilson's Look is a fascinating painting which makes a home in the British Pop Movement. The painting was made of oil and acrylic on plywood. The interpretation shows someone in glasses looking perhaps at a an unequal socitey, or the like. The bold lettering can also be interpreted as a message for people to stop and look at the troubled 1960s atmosphere. -
My Favorite Things
LISTEN Composer John Coltrane wrote his own version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 masterpiece. While Julie Andrews' version is still beloved, particularly at Christmas, it was Coltrane who solidified the piece as a jazz masterpiece. In an almost sad irony, the song is reflective of the duality of American life and looks at some of the frivilous "favorite things" from a Black musical direction. Alone, it's one of the greatest songs. -
Respect
LISTEN The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, represents Soul music and the aesthetics surrounding vocal mastery. Her interpretation of Otis Redding's Respect is moreso a treasured classic due to the vocal arranging, equipped with Opera/Gospel singer Cissy Houston's (the late-great Whitney Houston's mother) vibrato. The song was an American aesthetic masterpiece with a message fitting the pop art/civil rights era genre supremely. -
The Stockholm Big Electric Chair
Andy Warhol's Big Electric Chair makes a revolutionary home in the Pop Art 1960s movement, as he moved in the direction of art piece which possessed a certain agency. This painting is one of a series of works focusing on the electric chait. It is made of silk screen ink on synthetic polymer paint on canvas. The style is uniquely associated with protest and pop art of the 1960s. -
Nikki Rosa
WATCH Nikki Giovanni's 1968 work comes from her second book Black Judgment. The cadence of the poem is self expressive and looks at the brilliance of the Black Arts Movement. "Black love is Black wealth and they'll probably talk about my hard childhood and never understand that all the while I was quite happy". -
Homage to my Young Black Sisters
Elizabeth Catlett's masterpiece statue is a "life-sized personification of feminine Black power". As a grandchild of slaves, Catlett was able to create a wooden structure which stands completely erect with a fist in the air. This piece has been noted as an inspiration for many artists after the pop/civil rights era art period. -
Time of the Season
LISTEN The Zombie's Time of the Season is one of the greatest compositions of the 1960's, as it introduces elements of rock and roll to the technical stylings of the 1970s. As an imaginative song, the lyrical composition focuses on the concept of love. It also structurally is aesthetic in the devlivery of instruments which were far ahead of their time, such as synthesizers. -
The Door (Admissions Office)
David Hammons' The Door is easily one of the most important pieces from 1960's art. It depicts the prints of a Black American outside of the admission door to a school. The structure is made of wood, acrylic sheet, and pigment construction. It is currently at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. The "body prints" which Hammons created recalled the struggles Black Americans faced in seeking entrance to public schools throughout the Jim Crow South. -
Urban Wall Suit
Jae Jarrell's Urban Wall Suit is a dyed and printed silk with paint art piece. It is a physical representation of the 1960's by looking at the conditions surrounding the Civil Rights Movement. It stands at 38x27 inches. The sewn and painted cotton and silk two piece suit is housed at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. -
The Black Panther
Emory Douglas' The Black Panther is an installation of several paintings he made to accompany the Black Panther Party's newspapers and publications. This is one of his most famous, depicting a woman (similar to the look of Nina Simone) as a revolutionary warrior. This painting helped to contruct a visual mythology of power for Black Americans, while documenting the conditions which made the revolution neccessary in the 1960s. The painting uses contrasting colors and irony in using a soft color.
