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Mayor Daley

by Bernard Perlin

The 1968 Democratic National Convention, which was held in Chicago, is infamous as a shocking instance of police brutality against peaceful protesters, onlookers, and even passers-by.  

Perlin’s Mayor Daley commemorates the Chicago convention by depicting the Chicago mayor caught between two groups of demonstrators.  On the right are convention delegates wearing straw hats and holding up signs for the two leading democratic candidates: Senator Eugene J. McCarthy, an anti-war candidate, and Hubert H. Humphrey, the sitting vice-president serving with President Lyndon B. Johnson.  On the left, demonstrators are protesting the Vietnam War.  Both groups surround a huge Mayor Richard J. Daley, pinning him against tenement buildings.  

Why do you think the artist chose to paint Mayor Daley’s head so large?  What does his expression communicate? 

Learn more about this artist:

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Bernard Perlin- Mayor Daley
Bernard Perlin, Mayor Daley, 1968.  Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 in   

From Philip J. and Suzanne Schiller Collection of American Social Commentary Art 1930-1970.  Shown here with the permission of Philip J. and Suzanne Schiller.

Within Vietnam...
Bernard Perlin

WWI The Rise of Fascism Spanish Civil War
WWII Cold War Vietnam War
Werner Drews
James Guy
Edward Hagedorn
Rockwell Kent
Joseph Leboit
John McClellan
Miriam McKinnie Hofmeier
Leo Meissner
Bernard Perlin
Anton Refreiger
Philip Reisman
David Robbins
Ben Shahn
Harry Sternberg
Stuyvesant Van Veen


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