Figure 1962

John Henry Rock made this soft and hazy drawing titled "Figure" sometime after 1919. Rock was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from the Philadelphia College of Art in 1950, at a time when art institutions were still largely dominated by white artists. "Figure" delicately invites us to think about the power of representation. How can a charcoal drawing echo themes of identity? The human form emerges from a hazy background with gentle shading, in an ephemeral, dreamlike fashion. The figure, likely a woman, points to something beyond the frame, her body emerging from the shadows. Rock’s soft focus could be seen as a response to, or even a reclamation of, the historical objectification of the Black body. His choice to partially obscure the figure directs our gaze towards the emotional and spiritual presence of the subject, rather than the purely physical. The figure becomes a statement of presence, resilience, and self-assertion.