Sister Mary Corita Kent - It Can Be Said of Them (Jesus, MLK, RFK and JFK), 1969

Sister Mary Corita Kent - It Can Be Said of Them (Jesus, MLK, RFK and JFK), 1969

It Can Be Said of Them, from the portfolio A Set of Heroes and Sheroes, depicts four modern day martyrs: Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy
Silkscreen in colors on heavy art paper
Pencil signed on the front, from an edition of an unknown size, also annotated "The New Yorker", as a credit for the featured text (see below)
Published by Hambly Studios (Santa Clara, California, established 1959 – 2012) Printed by Harry Hambly
Printed by Hambly Studios, from the 29-print series A Set of Heroes and Sheroes
This work is documented in Berry/Duncah catalogue "Someday is Now: The Art of Corita Kent", catalogued as 69-81
CAC Reference: 69-81
This work has been professionally framed in a museum quality painted black wood frame under UV plexiglass.
Measurements:
Framed:
17 inches (vertical) x 28 inches (horizontal) x 1.5 inches (depth)
Artwork:
11.5 inches (vertical) x 22.5 inches (horizontal)
Jesus is represented through a halftone image of a sculpted bust
The words are by E.B. White, written specifically about John F. Kennedy immediately after his assassination. They appeared in The New Yorker's November 30, 1963 issue in a short "Talk of the Town" memorial dated November 22.
Transcribed Text:
"it can be said of him, as of few men in like position, that he did not fear the weather and did not trim his sails, but instead, challenged the wind itself to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people."
Taken as a whole, the heroes and sheroes series marks Corita Kent’s striking artistic progression and underscores the ethos that informed her life and work—a belief in the power of collective action and finding joy in the everyday. 

In 1968 and 1969, Kent created twenty-nine prints that she identified as “a set of heroes and sheroes.” Produced during a sabbatical from Immaculate Heart College and her subsequent departure from the Immaculate Heart of Mary order, the series reflects a key turning point in Corita Kent’s artistic output. Unfettered by a formal affiliation with the Catholic Church, Kent took a bold and uncompromising stance on what she viewed as the major humanitarian issues facing the country.

The series responds directly to the Vietnam War, nuclear disarmament, political assassinations, and the civil rights and labor movements. For the artist, this historically charged moment called for a new visual language, and to tackle these topics in her art, she turned to the news. With a keen awareness of how the most politically and socially urgent issues of the day were being framed and disseminated through mass media, Corita Kent juxtaposed imagery from photojournalism, editorials, and news coverage in periodicals like LIFE and Newsweek with quotations from Coretta Scott King, Leonard Cohen, Walt Whitman, Daniel Berrigan, and her students, among others.

More Background on the portfolio from the Corita Art Center:
Heroes & Sheroes
From 1968 to 1969, Corita created a series of 29 prints that she identified as “a set of heroes and sheroes.” Produced shortly after she took a sabbatical from Immaculate Heart College and subsequently left the order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, this series manifests a key turning point in Corita’s artistic output. While Corita never directly participated in the radical activities associated with many of her contemporaries of the religious left (figures such as Daniel Berrigan and groups like the Catonsville Nine), her heroes and sheroes works explicitly reflect the social and political movements of the decade, addressing topics such as labor and civil rights, nuclear disarmament, and political assassinations while also incorporating imagery taken directly from mass media. Notable figures represented in this series include Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Robert F. Kennedy, and Cesar Chavez.