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The ScreamThe Scream

Mike Henderson

b. 1944

The Scream, 1966

Oil on canvas

Museum purchase, American Art Trust Fund, and gift of the Peter Lipman Foundation, an anonymous donor, and William Reller

Mike Henderson is an accomplished artist, filmmaker, and blues musician. Born in Marshall, Missouri, he moved to the West in 1965 to study at the San Francisco Art Institute, as midwestern art schools were racially segregated. Walking home at night from the school’s campus on Russian Hill, through North Beach and Chinatown, Henderson frequently was accosted by the police. In 2020 he recounted the origin of The Scream, which he painted with his bare hands:

“I had been out in San Francisco for a year when I painted The Scream. I was in my second year at the Art Institute and had just been exposed to the city and its politics. I could see what was going on in the streets with regard to human rights and politics. With The Scream, I wanted to create a big painting to release a scream that was inside of me. From the news of the Vietnam War, to the protests that were going on, and the police brutality—I wanted to express everything that was happening at that moment in the mid-1960s. I was searching for a way to release the confusion and anger that I felt about what was going on in the world and how people were being treated. We all need to make better decisions. And that starts with each person.

“Recently, there is an increasing global awareness of police violence and corruption, and a growing desire to address the greedy politicians and racist, sexist governments, workplaces, and institutions that surround us. Now people of all different cultures and age groups are protesting and marching together. Finally, the whole world is screaming out for basic human rights. Looking back at the sixties, I constantly ask myself: in 2020, what has changed? Is it a case of new shoes but old socks?”