HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD |
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HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD |
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Paul Robeson Portrait to be Unveiled on Newark Campus |
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A portrait of the renowned Paul Robeson, by Perth Amboy artist Kenneth Hari, will be unveiled at ceremonies Wednesday in the Paul Robeson Campus Center of Rutgers University. Attending the dedication program will be Paul Robeson Jr. of New York, son of the athlete, political activist, scholar, actor and singer who died in 1976. Vocalist Sara Vaughan will perform in a special invitational concert following the portrait unveiling. Artist Hari, who specializes in portraits of the world famous, was commissioned to do the painting by Allan Gumbs, a Perth Amboy attorney and Rutgers alumnus who donated the Robeson portrait to the university. The portrait will hang in the newly completed addition of the Robeson Campus Center, where the private dedication ceremonies are scheduled on Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 pm. Mr. Robeson, an All-American football player, was a 1919 graduate of Rutgers College in New Brunswick, where he was only the third black to be graduated from the school. He won Phi Beta Kapa honors in his junior year, was valedictorian of his class and debating champion during his four years at Rutgers. He obtained a law degree from Columbia University and later became a star of the arts, appearing in plays, concerts,and films and making dozens of recordings. An activist in civil rights, Mr. Robeson became a self-enforced exile, living in London and, for a time, in Russia. Upon his return to the United States, his passport was revoked, and he stayed out of the public spotlight during the "Red Scare" of the late 1940s and 1950s. Artist Hari said of Paul Robeson: "He surely was the 'tallest tree' as someone so aptly described this great man." Hari traveled extensively to meet people who could aid with the portrait of Mr. Robeson. Last year he went to London to attend the Paul Robeson play at Her Majesty's Theater, where he conferred with actor James Earl Jones who portrayed Mr. Robeson in the production. Hari also met with Pennsylvania sculptor Antonio Salemme, who was a friend of Paul Robeson. Hari did drawings from some of Salemme's portrait bust of Mr. Robeson as a young man. Paul Robeson Jr. also assisted Hari, by posing for sketches, as well as giving Hari rare photographs of his father. The Perth Amboy artist has portrayed other celebrates on canvas and sketch pad, including cellist Pablo Casals, artists Salvador Dali, Thomas Hart Benton and Norman Rockwell, actress Helen Hayes and poets Marianne Moore and W.H. Auden. Hari noted that Auden once advised him: "Your portraits should serve as a unification of man, not as mere decorative elements." "I hope that my portrait (of Paul Robeson) will go beyond external, objective reality - the outward representation of a great man," Hari said. "What I aspire is for those who see my portrait of Paul Robeson to feel the strength and power of his great humanity and optimism for the world's people." |
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