Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -

Sale 2697 - Lot 147

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(CIVIL RIGHTS.) Portrait of James Brown, inscribed to Rosa Parks. Digital portrait, 11 x 8½, signed and inscribed twice by James Brown; tipped at top edge to foam board, 4-inch diagonal crease, light staining. No place, circa 2000
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Additional Details

James Brown, known as "The Godfather of Soul," was also a figure in the civil rights movement. He signed this digital image for civil rights icon Rosa Parks. We think the hastily written inscription in marker reads something like "To Mrs. Parks, I'm in debts to ya. James."

We suspect that Brown may have kept a supply of these images available for autograph seekers, with a more deliberate pen inscription in the lower margin, "My best, I Feel Good, James Brown." He then may have grabbed one of these signed images and signed it a second time personally for Parks.

Provenance: Collection of attorney Gregory J. Reed, who is credited as the co-author of Parks's 1994 memoir "Quiet Strength"; unsold at his well-publicized auction at Guernsey's, 25 July 2018, lot 1019; purchased by the consignor at Reed's bankruptcy auction, 19 November 2019.

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