Representation of Race and Black Art

By shaelynn myers
-In the nineteenth century, different cultures were feared by people who lacked knowledge

about these unknown cultures.

-Due to this cultural barrier it made it difficult for artists to express some of their pieces to all

races. These paintings back then done by these restricted artists would have been shared to

African American within France, since during this time the black population was increasing in

this country.
First artist I researched

While these increase in population there was a increase in inter-racial relationships. This type of

relationship was not accepted in the community due to the social denial of this race being accepted, it

was said that these types of relations caused concern for there to be downgrading the white race.

During this time of cultural exploration some artists were fascinated and viewed the African

Americans as a beauty of its own, specifically, a French artist named Edouard Manet.
Manet's Olympia (1863)

This work of art shows two figures including one

being a prostitute accompanied by a black maid.

This painting's focal point was the racial footage

that was taking place in modern life in Paris. This

painting also represents how African Americans

were more known for culture rather than sexual

like the white women.

During the years of 1832 and 1883 the main focus not just on his work, but in all of Paris

was on the social, political, and economic life of the city. His work was very prominent in

showing his acceptance to diversity, which he expressed on multiple occasions.. “Manet's

Olympia (1863) was foundational to the new manner of painting that captured the changing

realities of modern life in Paris. One readily observable development of the period was the

emergence of a small but highly visible population of free blacks in the city, just fifteen

years after the second and final French abolition of territorial slavery in 1848” (Seeing

Laure: Race and modernity from Manet's Olympia to Matisse, Bearden and beyond 1970)
Portrait of Laure

Manet's earlier piece of Laure proves that Manet

is showing the evolving beliefs of African

Americans as he painted a portrait of Laure who

is an African American. In the painting, she is

wearing more classy attire and jewelry that is not

something that a typical maid would have worn

as seen in Manet's Olympia.

Children in the Tuileries Gardens (1861-62)

Other than those two occasions where Manet used

Laure as the focal point of his paintings, Laure

portrays a nanny in Children in the Tuileries

Gardens (1861-62). Manet was told that adding the

black women in this painting makes viewers

understand the time in Paris and how people were

back in that time making this piece more realistic

The way Manet carried himself through his work and how he expressed his

way in minor details is very respectable and admirable. He was not the one to

give credit to where it comes to using the reality of that time in life within his

artwork, this was from his fellow colleague, friend Charles Baudelaire This

artist happened to bring it up out of the water which I believe made his

artwork ten times more eye-opening and interesting.

Pieces such as William H. Johnson's Portrait of Woman with Blue and White Striped Blouse, 1940–42,

Laura Wheeler Waring's Anna Washington Derry, 1927, and Frédéric Bazilles Young Woman with

Peonies, 1870 had made a huge impact on the community and influenced artist around the area to put

their focus towards the modern world. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, multicultural

communities became a center of attention for artists.

Why Matisse used african americans as his focal point

The question of why Matisse used black women to portray such beauty in his work arose with so many

black-motivated pieces he created. “Murrell suggests it may have had something to do with the artist’s visits

to Harlem in the 1930s, a little-known history that she uncovered in her research. While working on murals

for the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Matisse traveled to New York and met with artists connected to

the Harlem Renaissance, like Carl Van Vechten, and wrote to his family and friends about visiting

remarkable black plays. He saw firsthand the innovations and vibrancy of what was then the cultural center

of African-American life in the United States.” (The Black Muses erased from art history 2018)
According to Matisse, later down the line,

the paintings of black women started to

simply be paintings of beautiful women,

without the racial title that black women

formerly held referring to their race or

ethnicity. Romare Bearden, who created

Black Venus (1968) and Patchwork Quilt

(1970) , created pieces focusing on black

women in modern art.

Civil war may have also been a motivating factor for some of these artists to use African

Americans as their centerpiece. Due to slavery, the nation was divided up during this time, and

artists felt what better way to depict that time and show what caused the conflict than to paint

it. Although some of the artists despised this political period, others had an emotional

attachment to it due to their involvement. There were not many paintings or pictures

depicting the Civil War since these events were traumatic for many people. “Artists’ interest in

the Civil War did not fade in 1865, and contemporary artists continue to mine this rich legacy.
Kara Walker

The African American artist Kara Walker has been exploring the depths of stereotypes, both black and white, since

the 1990s. She presents her figures as black silhouettes on a white background, which stands out sharply. Drawing

from Gone with the Wind, minstrel shows, romance novels, and pornography, Walker’s collages, paintings, and

silhouettes “accentuate the absurdity and incongruity of the mythic images of slavery and the Civil War,” writes W.

Fitzhugh Brundage in Remixing the Civil War. He observes that Walker, rather than looking at the history of the

Civil War as an objective set of facts, “seems to dismiss any suggestion that there is an authentic historical memory

of slavery or the Civil War uncontaminated by racism and stereotype.”(Hopeless by Roy Lichtenstein).
White supremacy and the KKK

Following the end of the civil war, African Americans were freed from slavery, but soon after, white

supremacy was reinstated in the south, and that dream was buried. “White lawmakers on state and local

levels passed strict racial segregation laws known as “Jim Crow laws” that made African Americans second-

class citizens. While a small number of African Americans were able to become landowners, most were

exploited as sharecroppers, a system designed to keep them poor and powerless. Hate groups like the Ku

Klux Klan (KKK) perpetrated lynchings and conducted campaigns of terror and intimidation to keep African

Americans from voting or exercising other fundamental rights.”(A new African American Identity: The

Harlem Renaissance).
The impact that the Harlem Renaissance movement made

was never forgotten as the movement came to an end. In

response to the artworks, the black community influenced the

young African Americans and soon confronted the racists,

allowing them, and people of other cultural backgrounds, to

better understand the African Americans and their

experiences in life, and especially how they viewed the black

community.
Kinsey Collection
During this period, the Kinsey collection, one of the most

famous exhibits of its kind, informed us about slaves, their

enslavement, and their struggle to survive. “ it offers more

complex and layered stories that celebrate the indomitable

spirit of Africans, many of whom endured the Middle Passage

and, though forced, were able to establish lives in the New

World.”(Hopeless by Roy Lichtenstein).

-Due to slavery and racism, blacks were overlooked. Many African Americans wanted people to

know about their experiences and didn't want those times to go unnoticed, so they produced art that

represented them.

-This period was the peak of Harlem's renaissance for these artists Which was a golden age for

African American artists, writers, and musicians. It gave these artists pride in and control over how

the Black experience was represented in American culture and set the stage for the civil rights

movement.”(Harlem Renaissance).
To put African Americans at the center of attention, the black aesthetic was developed. Additionally, this strengthened African Americans'

creativity and encouraged the idea of Black separatism. A woman named Addison Gayle argued that black African Americans should focus

more on their own identity than making the white community happy by putting their opinions before their own. In Karenga's definition of

the black aesthetic, if the art does not fight for the black revolution, then it is not art at all.
Forever free
In 1867, an artist named Edmonia Lewis created a piece called

"Forever Free" depicting a black man and woman breaking free

from slavery and celebrating the end of prejudice. Lewis was the

first African American to have received the kind of recognition she

so richly deserved. In addition, she carved her work instead of

having workmen do it for her. This would ensure that her work

would be original and hers alone. “Lewis’ statue represents the

empowerment of male African Americans because he was able to

achieve his freedom by breaking his chains. As opposed to classical

Neoclassical sculptures, the female is completely dressed and the

male is partially dressed. This empowers the woman because her

body is concealed physically and figuratively from the dehumanizing

and objectifying elements of slavery.”(Edmonia Lewis: Forever free).

Work cited
Libraries, C. U. (1970, January 1). Seeing Laure: Race and modernity from Manet's Olympia to Matisse, Bearden and beyond. Academic Commons. Retrieved November 24, 2021,

from https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8MK69VP.

“The Hidden Figures Revealed by Art.” BBC Culture, BBC, www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190320-how-art-history-erased-black-people.

Editorial, Artsy, and Tess Thackara. “The Black Muses Erased from Art History.” Artsy, 9 Oct. 2018, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-rediscovering-black-muses-erased-art-

history.

History.com Editors. “Harlem Renaissance.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/harlem-renaissance.

“A New African American Identity: The Harlem Renaissance.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, 14 Mar. 2018, nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/new-african-

american-identity-harlem-renaissance.

“Between Worlds: The Art of Bill Traylor.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/traylor.

“Edmonia Lewis: Forever Free.” Neoclassical Salon of Equality, 23 Oct. 2016, lplsalon.wordpress.com/edmonia-lewis-forever-free/.

“Jean-Michel Basquiat.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 26 May 2021, www.biography.com/artist/jean-michel-basquiat.