P. H. Polk Photographs Capture Ordinary to Extraordinary in Tuskegee, Circa 1939-1984

To Make a Picture: The Photography of P. H. Polk from the Paul R. Jones Collection, on exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art from January 24 through May 23, explores the life’s work of Prentice Herman (P. H.) Polk (1898-1985). Polk was a Bessemer, Alabama native who became one of the most important African-American photographers of the 20th century. The 28 silver gelatin photographic prints in this exhibition are from the renowned Paul R. Jones collection of African-American art. To Make a Picture coincides with Black History Month and will be the second installation in the Museum’s gallery dedicated to African-American art.

From 1939 to1984, Polk was the official photographer of the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama. A historically black university, the Tuskegee campus today is designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service.

At Tuskegee, Polk chronicled campus life, capturing scenes of social, historical, and artistic significance and recording for posterity images of Tuskegee President Booker T. Washington, professor George Washington Carver, the celebrated Tuskegee Airmen, Eleanor Roosevelt (an early supporter of the Institute), boxing legend Joe Louis, renowned bass-baritone and activist for social justice Paul Robeson, and many other prominent individuals. Many of his most famous pictures are of Tuskegee locals to whom he referred as “Old Characters."

“Polk’s images are relevant to African-Americans not only in Alabama, but nationally,” says Graham Boettcher, PhD, William Carey Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art. “Whether his lens focused on a famous person or a poor sharecropper, Polk depicted all his subjects with equal dignity and humanity, finding beauty in all of his subjects.”

A native of Bessemer, Alabama, the Atlanta entrepreneur Paul R. Jones is one of the nation's foremost collectors of the work of African-American artists. In 2001, he donated a substantial portion of his important collection to the University of Delaware an, in 2008, gave more than 1,700 works of art to the University of Alabama.

Works by Polk and other photographers are shown regularly in its Contemporary and American galleries, but this is the first exhibition the Museum has devoted exclusively to Polk since 1983. The guest curator of this exhibition is Amalia K. Amaki, Ph.D., Professor of Art History, University of Alabama, and curator of the Paul R. Jones Collection in Atlanta, Georgia.

“The Museum is committed to exhibiting the work of significant Alabama artists, as well as important African-American artists. P. H. Polk is both,” says Gail Andrews, R. Hugh Daniel Director of the Birmingham Museum of Art. “We are delighted to show these extraordinary photographs from Paul Jones’s unparalleled collection of works by African-American artists.”

The Birmingham Museum of Art gratefully acknowledges Paul R. Jones for his generous loans to this exhibition and also appreciates loans of works of art by Patrick Cather, Ann B. Lambert, and Robert R. Bairnsfather. General exhibition support is provided by the City of Birmingham and the Alabama State Council on the Arts, with assistance from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

RELATED PROGRAMS AT THE BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART

Through the Lens of History:
The Remarkable Life of P. H. Polk
February 9, 2010, noon
Graham Boettcher, Ph.D., William Carey Hulsey Curator of American Art, Birmingham Museum of Art
Boettcher will discuss Polk’s extraordinary life and work through the photographs on exhibit in Bohorfoush Gallery.

P.H. Polk Photographs: Pictures of Desire
February 18, 2010, 6:00 pm
Amalia K. Amaki, Ph.D., Professor of Art History, University of Alabama and guest curator of To Make a Picture
Amaki will provide insight into the fascinating life and work of Prentice H. Polk (1898-1984), a Bessemer native who became one of the most significant photographers of the 20th century through his role as the official photographer of the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama. Polk's photographs portray both Tuskegee locals and world famous celebrities, and are admired for their aesthetic beauty and their important role in chronicling a half-century of life at one of the nation's most storied colleges.

THE BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART

Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art today has one of the finest collections in the Southeast, with more than 24,000 paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, and decorative arts representing American, African, Asian, European, Pre-Columbian, and Native American cultures. The Museum encompasses 3.9 acres in the heart of the city’s cultural district. The present building was designed by architects Warren, Knight and Davis and erected in 1959. A major renovation and expansion by Edward Larrabee Barnes of New York was completed in 1993. The facility covers 180,000 square feet and includes a splendid outdoor sculpture garden.

VISITOR INFORMATION

Museum hours are Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun Noon-5pm

Admission to this exhibition and the permanent collection is free.

Museum Café will reopen in March, serving lunch Tues—Sat, 11am—2pm, and jazz brunch the first Sunday of the month.

For details, go to www.artsbma.org or call 205.254.2565.