Wadsworth Jarrell
Sketch for the Wall of Respect, 1967
gouache
50 x 37 in (127 x 94 cm) framed
44 x 30 in (111.8 x 76.2 cm) paper
44 x 30 in (111.8 x 76.2 cm) paper
Founded in 1966, the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC, pronounced “Obah-See”) was a multidisciplinary collective including artists and intellectuals, including Hoyt W. Fuller (editor of Negro Digest). OBAC hosted...
Founded in 1966, the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC, pronounced “Obah-See”) was a multidisciplinary collective including artists and intellectuals, including Hoyt W. Fuller (editor of Negro Digest). OBAC hosted discipline-based workshops including a Drama Workshop, Writers Workshop, and Visual Art Workshop.
In 1967, OBAC produced the Wall of Respect, cited as the first mural of its kind. Collaboratively worked on by 14 artists, the mural featured images of Nat Turner, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Gwendolyn Brooks, W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Aretha Franklin, and Harriet Tubman, among others. Wadsworth Jarrell’s contribution focused on music. This piece is Jarrell’s original gouache composition sketch in preparation for the final mural, dedicated to celebrating music, a theme which would persist throughout Jarrell’s entire artistic career.
The Wall of Respect inspired a revolution of likeminded community murals worldwide, the Chicago Tribune noting in 2017 that within eight years of the Wall of Respect debuting, more than 1500 murals of a similar style were painted, mostly in African American neighborhoods, and many patterning themselves on the naming convention “Wall of [Blank].”
The building suffered a fire in 1971 and ultimately had to be torn down, unfortunately resulting in a short physical life for the mural. Its long-term influence, however, was indelible.
In 1967, OBAC produced the Wall of Respect, cited as the first mural of its kind. Collaboratively worked on by 14 artists, the mural featured images of Nat Turner, Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Gwendolyn Brooks, W. E. B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Aretha Franklin, and Harriet Tubman, among others. Wadsworth Jarrell’s contribution focused on music. This piece is Jarrell’s original gouache composition sketch in preparation for the final mural, dedicated to celebrating music, a theme which would persist throughout Jarrell’s entire artistic career.
The Wall of Respect inspired a revolution of likeminded community murals worldwide, the Chicago Tribune noting in 2017 that within eight years of the Wall of Respect debuting, more than 1500 murals of a similar style were painted, mostly in African American neighborhoods, and many patterning themselves on the naming convention “Wall of [Blank].”
The building suffered a fire in 1971 and ultimately had to be torn down, unfortunately resulting in a short physical life for the mural. Its long-term influence, however, was indelible.