Up from Slavery

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Bart Forbes
Up from Slavery
1977

About the Item

This minimalist yet evocative watercolor painting shows three men standing together against a blue sky while a horse grazes in the foreground. This illustration appears as a full-page bookplate on page 132 of Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington. From its founding in 1973 until its closing in 2000 The Franklin Library produced public domain classic books as well as some limited first editions. They released them in subscription series such as The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature. Often released in parallel series including leather-bound and a non-leather bound (leatherette), the books were handsomely bound and included illustrations from contemporary illustrators. American painter and illustrator Bart Forbes (b. 1939) was specially commissioned to create a series of interior illustrations for The Franklin Library's 1977 publication of Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up from Slavery. The book describes Washington's personal experience of having to work to rise up from the position of a slave child during the Civil War, to the difficulties and obstacles he overcame to get an education at the new Hampton Institute, to his work establishing vocational schools—most notably the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama—to help black people and other disadvantaged minorities learn useful, marketable skills and work to pull themselves, as a race, up by the bootstraps. Washington was a controversial figure in his own lifetime, and W. E. B. Du Bois, among others, criticized some of his views. The book was, however, a best-seller, and remained the most popular African American autobiography until that of Malcolm X. In 1998, the Modern Library listed the book at No. 3 on its list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century, and in 1999 it was also listed by the conservative Intercollegiate Review as one of the "50 Best Books of the Twentieth Century". The illustration is matted and framed behind glass in its original wood frame and includes Franklin Library ink stamps on verso. This is unsigned by the artist. Framed dimensions: 20.5" x 24.25" Image dimensions: 13" x 17"

Creator:
Bart Forbes (1939, American)
Creation Year:
1977
Dimensions:
Height: 24.25 in (61.6 cm)Width: 20.5 in (52.07 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
Medium:
Watercolor
Movement & Style:
Contemporary
Period:
1970-1979
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Minneapolis, MN
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU12224575341