Martin Luther King, Jr. - Mountain Top

Artist

Romare Bearden, 2 Sep 1911 - 12 Mar 1988

Sitter

Martin Luther King, Jr., 15 Jan 1929 - 4 Apr 1968

Exhibition Label

Born Atlanta, Georgia

Romare Bearden's image of Martin Luther King Jr., entitled Mountain Top, represents an homage to a fallen leader. As an African American artist who served in an all-black regiment during World War II, Bearden understood the continued prejudice King sought to combat and became a great admirer of the civil rights leader. The work's title and imagery are derived from a speech delivered by King in Memphis on April 3, 1968, the day before he was assassinated. King warned the crowd to anticipate "difficult days" and declared, "But it doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop [and] I've seen the promised land." He continued, in language that seems, in retrospect, prophetic, "I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land."

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

1968

Object number

NPG.2007.170

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© Romare Bearden Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Type

Print

Medium

Screenprint

Dimensions

Sheet: 76 x 49.8cm (29 15/16 x 19 5/8")

Mat: 91.4 x 66cm (36 x 26")

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Exterior\Landscape

Nature & Environment\Mountain

Nature & Environment\Sun

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Male

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\Civil rights leader

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Religion and Spirituality\Clergy\Minister

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Nobel Prize

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Presidential Medal of Freedom

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Congressional Gold Medal

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2007.170

Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4b9936b90-8903-4b20-81ed-c1494a0bc5b4