Understanding History and Society through Images, 1776-1914

Overview

Upon initial consideration, one may ask, in a Eurocentric society, were there representations of African-Americans in art prior to Emancipation? The answer is yes. However, one must look closely and carefully. After finding these representations, one must check the manipulation of these depictions by the artist and their assumptions/prejudices that they bring into the work. This unit seeks to investigate the lives of African-Americans directly prior to, and following, the Civil War.

The bulk of visual representation of African-Americans during this period have been created by white artists, primarily because the oppressive nature of the chattel slavery system did not permit artistic expression by those held as slaves. Therefore, the paintings discussed in this unit are not by African-Americans for African-Americans, but rather produced by white artists for consumption by a predominantly white audience. These works position blacks within the white power structures that existed during the period. In our era, we can come to understand the social attitudes of the time period as represented and portrayed in the paintings suggested for use in this unit.

On a very simple level, visiting Europeans, in particular, gave treatment to black figures because "blacks were picturesque in the simplest meaning of the word – suitable for representation in art". ¹ It has also been remarked that these representations are in some ways more authentic because non-American artists, at least initially, took on the role of disinterested spectator. ² It is argued that Europeans were "occasionally struck by the scenes which native-born Americans had not recorded probably because they seemed either too commonplace to answer the demands of the public or too perturbing". ³ In other words, that which one lives amongst is that which one pays the least mind, thereby granting subjects of many of the artists suggested more analytical eye than the average American. It is important to add, however, a handful American painters did also themselves drawn to these figures as well.

Specifically, the genre paintings selected span the decades of 1850 to 1870, a tumultuous period of American History. From these works, students can glean some visual understanding of what life looked like for black people, while simultaneously unpacking the idealized historical commentary on antebellum and postbellum perceptions of slave and freedman life. By looking at a selection of twenty-five images between the specified years, students can also find a thematic and visual vocabulary for understanding the structures of power in the US.

While these paintings have all been created by white artists, which may seem problematic, Alain Locke, writer, educator and philosopher, in his compendium published in 1940, The Negro in Art, succinctly explains: "To treat adequately, even in the barest outline, the art history of the Negro one should trace, in addition to the career of the Negro artist, the course of the Negro theme in art generally. As is becoming increasingly recognized, this, too, is a vital part of the Negro's cultural history and influence". ⁴ Ergo, there is value in looking at representations of black persons painted by others, as long as that influence is discussed and validated within an appropriate theoretical framework. Specifically, "the fictions that whites built about the black people in their midst were very different from those they constructed about one another….most argued that the fundamental factor deterring African-Americans' place in the social order was that black were racially – that is essentially – different from whites as human beings." ⁵

Historically, the decades 1850 to 1890 span the period leading up to through and directly after the Civil War. Prior to the south succeeding, the Compromise of 1850 signaled the increase in tensions between pro and anti-abolition political movements. This particular period progresses through the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation and into Reconstruction, including the passage of the 15 ^th Amendment, granting newly freed slaves the right to vote.