Marion Perkins

Marion Perkins (American, 1908-1961)

Almost unknown outside Chicago, Perkins received sculptural training at the YMCA and was otherwise self-taught. A 1948 Rosenwald Fellow, he taught and exhibited at the SSCAC and in the 1940 American Negro Exhibition. Perkins participated in the AIC annuals from 1942-1957, winning three awards; the AIC bought his Man of Sorrows in 1951. A Marxist, his marble and limestone figurative sculptures of both named subjects, such as John Henry, and anonymous African Americans express his political ideology, while a series on Hiroshima reflects anti-war sentiments.

Important Source Material:

Schulman, Daniel. “Marion Perkins: A Chicago Sculptor Rediscovered,” in Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, (Vol. 24, No. 2): pp. 220-243; 267-271.

NHS