Artist field note

Barkley L. Hendricks

Cool becomes art-historical authority.

Appears inThe Overlooked
Lawdy Mama by Barkley L. Hendricks
scma.smith.edu · See source for rightsSource ↗

01 / 05

Lawdy Mama

1969

A Black woman's head sits against gold leaf like a Byzantine icon. Style and sacred authority meet.

The five in one idea

Hendricks gave everyday Black subjects the scale, cool and authority the canon had long reserved for others.