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Exhibition

The Train

RFK's Last Journey
March 17–September 23, 2018
Floor 3

On June 8, 1968, three days after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, his body was carried by a funeral train from New York City to Washington, D.C., for burial at Arlington Cemetery. The Train looks at this historical event through three distinct works. The first is a group of color photographs by commissioned photographer Paul Fusco. Taken from the funeral train, the images capture mourners who lined the railway tracks to pay their final respects. Looking from the opposite perspective, the second work features photographs and home movies by the spectators themselves, collected by Dutch artist Rein Jelle Terpstra in his project The People’s View (2014–18). The third, a work by French artist Philippe Parreno, is a 70mm film reenactment of the funeral train’s journey, inspired by Fusco’s original photographs. Bringing historical and contemporary works together in dialogue, this powerful, multidisciplinary exhibition sheds new light on this pivotal moment in American history.

Generous support for The Train: RFK’s Last Journey is provided by The Black Dog Private Foundation, Nion McEvoy, and Wes and Kate Mitchell. Additional support is provided by Lynn Kirshbaum and the Mondriaan Fund.

Mondriaan

Header image: Paul Fusco, Untitled, from the series RFK Funeral Train, 1968, printed 2008; collection SFMOMA, purchase through a gift of Randi and Bob Fisher, Nion McEvoy, Kate and Wes Mitchell, The Black Dog Private Foundation, Candace and Vincent Gaudiani, Michele and Chris Meany, Jane and Larry Reed, and John A. MacMahon; © Magnum Photos, courtesy Danziger Gallery

Exhibition Preview

Three blurry figures look up toward the camer, two hold a banner that reads, "So-long Bobby"
A group of people standing along a train track holding signs that say, "RFK We Love You" and and American flag
A large group of people standing on a grassy median in a city waving toward the camera
A faded square photograph of a group of black and white children and adolescents, seen from behind and in profile, watching a large train pass by from the train tracks
A sitting girl in a motor boat surrounded by blue water

Paul Fusco, Untitled, from the series RFK Funeral Train, 1968, printed 2008; collection SFMOMA, purchase through a gift of Randi and Bob Fisher, Nion McEvoy, Kate and Wes Mitchell, The Black Dog Private Foundation, Candace and Vincent Gaudiani, Michele and Chris Meany, Jane and Larry Reed, and John A. MacMahon; © Magnum Photos, courtesy Danziger Gallery

Paul Fusco, Untitled, from the series RFK Funeral Train, 1968, printed 2008; collection SFMOMA, purchase through a gift of Randi and Bob Fisher, Nion McEvoy, Kate and Wes Mitchell, The Black Dog Private Foundation, Candace and Vincent Gaudiani, Michele and Chris Meany, Jane and Larry Reed, and John A. MacMahon; © Magnum Photos, courtesy Danziger Gallery

Paul Fusco, Untitled, from the series RFK Funeral Train, 1968, printed 2008; collection SFMOMA, purchase through a gift of Randi and Bob Fisher, Nion McEvoy, Kate and Wes Mitchell, The Black Dog Private Foundation, Candace and Vincent Gaudiani, Michele and Chris Meany, Jane and Larry Reed, and John A. MacMahon; © Magnum Photos, courtesy Danziger Gallery

Annie Ingram, Elkton, Maryland, 1968; from Rein Jelle Terpstra’s The People’s View (2014–18); courtesy Melinda Watson

Philippe Parreno, June 8, 1968, 2009 (still); © Philippe Parreno, courtesy Maja Hoffmann / LUMA Foundation