Boy with Raised Arm
1988
Oil on canvas

Sidney Goodman
American
Born 1836

Sidney Goodman's initial study for this painting included a second boy crouching in the foreground. By eliminating the additional figure in the final work, the remaining child's role becomes seemingly symbolic: he raises his arm in a familiar sign of power, resistance and racial pride. In 1991, the Anti-Graffiti Network utilized this compelling image as a wall mural at the corner of Powelton Avenue and Fortieth Street in West Philadelphia. That structure in no longer standing, but part of the mural remains on the Red Cross building that was erected on the site.

* text taken from museum display