Gordon Parks

(American, 1912–2006)

Gordon Parks was a self-taught photographer, writer, composer, and filmmaker. Parks is remembered as the first African-American photographer who worked for Vogue and Life magazines, known for his documentary photojournalism of the 1940s through the 1970s. He captured iconic images of the civil rights movement, investigating important turning points in inner cities around the United States. Along with these charged moments, he also captured candid portraits of artists and musicians including Helen Frankenthaler. “I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty,” he once said. Born on November 30, 1912 in Fort Scott, KS, Parks grew up amidst the injustices of segregation and racist violence. He bought his first camera at the age of 25 at a Seattle pawnshop, and in 1940 moved to Chicago where he developed a portrait business. In 1948, his photographic essay on a Harlem gang leader earned Parks a job as a photographer for Life, where he continued to work until 1972. In addition to his photography, Parks also became a successful filmmaker, directing Shaft, one of the most successful movies of 1971. He also wrote the acclaimed book A Choice of Weapons (1966), a chronicle of his life journey as a photographer. Parks was awarded the American Society of Magazine Photographers’ Photographer of the Year in 1960, the Congress of Racial Equality Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, as well as over 20 honorary doctorates. The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. acquired his archive in 1995. He died on March 7, 2006 in New York, NY. Today, the artist’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Gordon Parks News

Gallery Network

Spotlight: A New Exhibition Looks Back at Gordon Parks’s Seminal Photography

by Artnet Gallery Network
Spotlight: A New Exhibition Looks Back at Gordon Parks’s Seminal Photography
Art & Exhibitions

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz Triumph as Art World 'Giants'

by Min Chen
Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz Triumph as Art World 'Giants'
Politics

'National Geographic' Turned to a Photo Historian to Help Reckon With Its Colonialist Past. Even He Was Unsettled by What He Found

by Ben Davis
'National Geographic' Turned to a Photo Historian to Help Reckon With Its Colonialist Past. Even He Was Unsettled by What He Found

Gordon Parks Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Gordon Parks (252 results)
Blue clouds, 1982

Gordon Parks

Blue clouds, 1982

Sale Date: March 10, 2011

Auction Closed

Flavio da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, 1953–1954

Gordon Parks

Flavio da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, 1953–1954

Sale Date: December 9, 2010

Auction Closed

Rose (study) (+ 2 others; 3 works), 1980–1981

Gordon Parks

Rose (study) (+ 2 others; 3 works), 1980–1981

Sale Date: October 19, 2010

Auction Closed

Elijah muhammad, 1963

Gordon Parks

Elijah muhammad, 1963

Sale Date: August 19, 2008

Auction Closed

Liberty or death, black muslim demonstration, 1963

Gordon Parks

Liberty or death, black muslim demonstration, 1963

Sale Date: August 19, 2008

Auction Closed

Liberty or death, black muslim demonstration, 1963

Gordon Parks

Liberty or death, black muslim demonstration, 1963

Sale Date: September 9, 2008

Auction Closed

Elijah muhammad, 1963

Gordon Parks

Elijah muhammad, 1963

Sale Date: September 9, 2008

Auction Closed

Ella watson, american gothic, washington d.c., 1942

Gordon Parks

Ella watson, american gothic, washington d.c., 1942

Sale Date: April 29, 2010

Auction Closed

Young black muslim, 1963

Gordon Parks

Young black muslim, 1963

Sale Date: January 7, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled (Young child with doll (from the..., 1985

Gordon Parks

Untitled (Young child with doll (from the..., 1985

Sale Date: May 20, 2010

Auction Closed

Chicago, 1960

Gordon Parks

Chicago, 1960

Sale Date: October 27, 2009

Auction Closed

Self-portrait, 1974

Gordon Parks

Self-portrait, 1974

Sale Date: September 24, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled (children with doll), 1942

Gordon Parks

Untitled (children with doll), 1942

Sale Date: February 19, 2009

Auction Closed

Marilyn Monroe (2 works), 1959

Gordon Parks

Marilyn Monroe (2 works), 1959

Sale Date: February 12, 2009

Auction Closed

Fashion, Paris, 1949

Gordon Parks

Fashion, Paris, 1949

Sale Date: December 17, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled (Photographing a child at the..., 1950

Gordon Parks

Untitled (Photographing a child at the..., 1950

Sale Date: November 20, 2008

Auction Closed

Malcom X adressing Black Muslim Rally in..., 1963

Gordon Parks

Malcom X adressing Black Muslim Rally in..., 1963

Sale Date: December 5, 2008

Auction Closed

Woman in her home, southwest section of..., 1942

Gordon Parks

Woman in her home, southwest section of..., 1942

Sale Date: October 21, 2008

Auction Closed

Young child with doll (from the film The..., 1985

Gordon Parks

Young child with doll (from the film The..., 1985

Sale Date: May 15, 2008

Auction Closed

Untitled (Portrait of a woman), 1960–1975

Gordon Parks

Untitled (Portrait of a woman), 1960–1975

Sale Date: December 13, 2007

Auction Closed

Hilton Caribe in Puerto Rico, 1949

Gordon Parks

Hilton Caribe in Puerto Rico, 1949

Sale Date: June 7, 2007

Auction Closed

Young child with doll (from The Film The..., 1985

Gordon Parks

Young child with doll (from The Film The..., 1985

Sale Date: May 22, 2007

Auction Closed

Muslim women in Chicago

Gordon Parks

Muslim women in Chicago

Sale Date: December 2, 2006

Auction Closed

Sunday Morning, 1987

Gordon Parks

Sunday Morning, 1987

Sale Date: December 7, 2006

Auction Closed

English (US)

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