Mary McLeod Bethune Mural by Charles White – 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (Pomegranate)

Mary McLeod Bethune sits at the centre in a deep green robe with her hands folded, a barefoot man playing guitar to her left and a woman in ochre on a stool to her right, while a boy in a red shirt reads cross-legged below her. Charles White painted this mural for the Los Angeles Public Library in 1978, and the grey-blue panels behind carry lines from the educator's own last testament: I leave you love, I leave you hope, I leave you faith.

The figures place themselves quickly; the flat geometric bands of red, teal and ochre behind them, and the hand-lettering, are where it slows. Finished size 51 x 68cm.