J.D. McClain’s Day in Court
- Created by
- Donaldson, Jeff, American, 1932 - 2004
- Subject of
- Jackson, Jonathan, American, 1953 - 1970
- Haley, Harold Joseph, American, 1904 - 1970
- Black Panther Party, American, 1966 - 1982
- AfriCOBRA, founded 1968
- Date
- 1970
- Medium
- paint on cardboard with ink on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (artwork): 29 1/8 × 19 5/16 in. (74 × 49 cm)
- H x W x D (frame): 31 1/8 × 21 3/16 × 1 3/4 in. (79.1 × 53.8 × 4.5 cm)
- Description
- This mixed media work is Jeff Donaldson's interpretation of a photograph taken of the 1970 Marin County courthouse incident. The original newspaper photograph and caption can be seen in the center of the image. The figure on the left in the artwork has his left hand outstretched and the source image in the palm of his hand. In the original photograph, the man on the left is James McClain. In both images, he is holding a gun in his right hand at eye level pointed toward the figure on the right. Unlike McClain in the newspaper photograph, the man in the painting is wearing a black and white horizontally striped shirt with white numbers, [81970], on a black strip reminiscent of prison clothing. He is also wearing tan pants and a white jacket.
- The figure on the right in the original image is California Superior Court Judge Harold Haley dressed in black court dress robes. In Donaldson's mixed media piece, the black robes are partially visible but Haley's figure has a skull in place of his head and is reaching toward the man on the left. The piece is multicolored. In the center is black text on a white background that reads [GLASS] and repeats [-SS] below. To the left of the skull is [A] in the stars and stripes pattern of the American flag. The artist signed the work at the bottom. The artwork is floating in a white frame.
- Place depicted
- San Rafael, Marin County, California, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Type
- paintings
- mixed media
- Topic
- Art
- Black power
- Law
- Mass media
- Prisons
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2017.33.2
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Jeff Donaldson