The Victory Sign, Montgomery
Date1956
Artist
Burton Philip Silverman
(American painter, illustrator, born 1928)
MediumGraphite on paper
Dimensionssheet: 13 7/8 × 11 in. (35.2 × 27.9 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Robert Lehman Foundation Inc., 1994
Object number1994-77
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextIn 1956, New York artist Burton Silverman and his fellow artist Harvey Dinnerstein recorded people and events of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, initiated when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to give up her seat to a white man on the racially segregated city bus system. Several drawings were published in magazines and exhibited in museums. In this anonymous protestor, Silverman crystallized the hope and determination of the boycotters. With his umbrella recalling the hardship that protestors often had to walk long distances, the man gives the victory sign, with a reserved and quietly confident smile. Silverman's cross-hatching in the clothing suggests an artist on the scene, capturing one moment in a tumultuous time. He concentrates most detail in the face, where the intense black of the hat’s brim is a reminder of the sun and heat endured by the boycotters.
Burton Philip Silverman
1956
