Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): The Mother of Modern Medicine (2017)

Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): The Mother of Modern Medicine (2017)

AP African American Studies Guide

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Topic 4.20

Kadir Nelson, Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): The Mother of Modern Medicine (2017)

Oil painting of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman. She is smiling facing forward with her hands clasped in front of her body, holding a black book with gold-colored text [HOLY BIBLE]. Lacks is wearing a red dress with a white flower pattern and small belt. The dress has central buttons, with two (2) missing. There is a flower accessory with three (3) pearls in the center above the buttons. Lacks is wearing a wedding ring and a pearl necklaces and earrings. She has a cream and tan hat, the circular brim of whic


Source: Kadir Nelson, Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): The Mother of Modern Medicine, 2017. (Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and National Portrait Gallery. © 2017, Kadir Nelson.) Read from the artist’s statement on the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s website.

Following her death at the age of thirty-one from cervical cancer, Henrietta Lacks’s cells were harvested from her body (without her or her family’s knowledge and consent) and used to create an immortal cell line, known as HeLa.

Discussion Questions

  1. In this portrait of Henrietta Lacks, what do the subject’s attire, facial expression, posture, and accessories convey about her character?
  2. Considering both the portrait and the citation, what argument does artist Kadir Nelson convey with his choice of title?
  3. What elements in the painting amplify Nelson’s claim about why Lacks is important? How do color, shape, and repetition function in this artwork?