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Stories of Everyday Life
Historically, artists have used portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes to describe themselves, the people around them, and their physical surroundings and travels. Artists depict the activities they experience and illustrate the stories they share as a common heritage, so that others may know them better.
Too often, African American identity was defined by cultural stereotypes of minstrel shows and other racist and demeaning portrayals. In reaction to this, African American artists looked to themselves, their community, and their histories to tell the stories to each other and the rest of the world. Their initial response was to emphasize a serious and sober identity, but this art exemplifies the gradual comfort level with portraying the diverse appearances and customs of blacks as everyday men and women.
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William Harper,
Staircase, ca. 1908, oil on board. Walter O. Evans Collection.
William Harper was living in Paris when
he made this mysterious, moody painting. There he studied with noted
African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner. They both adapted the
modern French style of applying thick paint, in which each brushstroke
leaves its own mark like a fingerprint. |
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Image Caption: Edwin Harleston, Portrait of a Woman, ca. 1920, oil on canvas. Walter O. Evans Collections. (left)