-
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
-
|
| E-Mail Forum |
| RETURN |
| Firefighters Damage Historic Mural by
Famous African-American Artist Sargent Johnson January 20, 2007 |
|
The historic mural/sculpture that has
adorned the wall behind the dais of the now abandoned City Council
chambers since the building was completed in 1950 was apparently removed
and damaged by unnamed Richmond firefighters for reasons that remain
somewhat murky. According to Richmond Community Redevelopment Agency
sources, which now have the damaged mural in storage, it was marked for
salvaging from City Hall prior to rehabilitation, and no one had
authority to be in the building, much less to remove the mural.
Click here
for a photo of the mural. The artwork, which one Richmond senior staff member valued at perhaps $1 million, suffered an estimated $100,000 damage. The mural was created by famed African American Artist, Sargent Johnson (1888-1967) and was commissioned by the City of Richmond in 1949 specifically for display in City Hall. Johnson’s work is exhibited in the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (Standing Woman, 1934, Dorothy C., ca.1935), Sargent Claude Johnson in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Database, Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, Sargent Claude Johnson at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., and University of Kentucky Art Museum (Lenox Avenue).Either no one really knows what happened, or they are not talking about it. |
| RETURN |