Chicago-born artist Charles White created the linoleum cut Solid as a Rock (My God Is a Rock) in 1958, shortly after moving to Los Angeles, where he became an influential teacher and mentor for an emerging generation of African American artists. The print's unusual scale and iconic depiction represent a key moment in the artist's practice—a transition between his earlier social realist work with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and his increasing focus on issues of race and the black body.
Gallery label from New to the Print Collection: Matisse to Bourgeois, June 13, 2012–January 7, 2013.