I Love this Old Woman

Initially, one might overlook the social significance of an elderly African-American woman mending socks, but the social relevance confined within Mending Socks by Archibald J. Motley, Jr. appears utterly clear. Motley’s 1924 painting portrays Southern black society as cultured and affluent, two adjectives frequently absent in many other period portrayals of African-American life. Motley, himself an African-American, wanted to portray his positive view of African-American, one that was often overlooked in American society when paralleled with the general stereotypes found in “black-face” movies as well as specific stereotypes such as the “mammy” character that is seen in “Imitation of Life.” Through a certain painting style as well as including certain symbols, Motley was able to express his views about African-Americans.

As one examines the painting, one is immediately drawn to the woman. She is the centerpiece of the work. Her defining characteristic is her age. The crease lines in her forehead, the bags under her eyes as well as the loose skin under her chin tell of a long and hard life. Naturally, elderly people will have these characteristics, and whether she had a hard life as a slave or not is not certain. Regardless, life for many people, White or Black, during this time was rough and her skin qualities show it.

The second thing one notices is that she is dressed well. Typical of Motley’s style, the woman appears to be financially stable and could probably be considered a middle class citizen. Her shiny blouse indicates a silky material, which would lead one to believe that she is at least financially stable. Never do we consider the woman poor due to her clothing.

As one’s eyes scan the painting, one notices certain symbols that clearly indicate the woman’s sophistication and class. First, the cloth that is covering the table appears to be of a thick and durable material. Similar to the dress, this fabric indicates the woman’s financially stability. One would not expect to find the same material covering a farm-hand’s table. In fact, someone of a considerably lower societal status may have a poorly sewn cotton cloth or probably nothing at all. The tablecloth’s color as well as the intricate designs illustrate that time was a factor in creating the cloth. This was not some cloth that was hastily made, but a cloth made with an artistic purpose.

On the table, we see a sterling container with different kinds of fruits. Bananas are rarely grown in America, and the bananas in the container tell us that the woman is able to afford outside luxuries. People of a lower class would probably not have the extra money to spend on imported bananas, let a lone a nice sterling container. The large grapes and peaches also look exceptionally nice, and this illustrates that this woman is a woman of class. She is not someone who relies on her garden outside to provide her food.

Next to the fruit are big books, an indicator that this woman is educated. Perhaps a sign of her true education, or perhaps a symbol of her higher status (you can be sure that big books don’t necessarily equate to a big intellect), the books place her in a part of society that valued education. Also, the fact that the woman has time to read the two huge books indicates that she has a lot of spare time, a luxury that many poorer people did not have during this time. The daily routines of poorer people during this period consisted of surviving, whether on a farm, in a factory or in the streets. This clearly did not leave much time for reading big books. The books also illustrate the woman’s achievement within the Black community, as equal education (access) and equal rights were not often offered to the Black community during this time.

To woman’s left, we see a crucifix. This is an obvious symbol of her Christian faith, which was and continues to be a staple of Black society in America. The cross may be just that, a symbol directly referencing her piety, or it could be a reminder of what Jesus promised his followers: a pain-free life in Heaven, regardless of the trials faced on earth. Not knowing whether this woman specifically faced rough times during her life, we can be sure that the majority of African-Americans during her time did. This crucifix could represent an overarching sense of hope within the Black community, maybe for a hopeful future in the afterlife, maybe for a hopeful future in America. Either way, the crucifix is an important part of the woman’s life, considering its proximity to her sewing area. Whether reading books, or sewing socks from the large pile of fabric, we can be certain that the elderly woman spends a lot of time at this table. She even has food on the table in case she gets hungry.

One odd marker of this piece is the portrait hanging in the top left part of the painting. Initially, it’s hard to tell who this portrait may represent, but Motley frequently depicted woman of mixed-ethnicity, as he was a Creole himself. This portrait may be meant to parallel the woman and to remind the viewer of the mixed heritage of many of the people living in the Louisiana area. Another suggestion is that the portrait represents someone who the woman worked for when she was younger. For some reason, the woman may accept her past as a part of her life and regardless of the pain she probably went through as a slave, she may not want to forget about that part of her life, but learn from it and move on. The portrait would surely be a reminder of her past in this sense.

I’m not entirely sure of any claims that could be argued to refute what I have said about the intention of the artist to illustrate Black society. All symbols as well as the appearance of the woman seem to indicate a life of struggle, tradition and hope. The only argument, in my opinion, that could be waged against my interpretation is in the historical context of the woman’s life. Other than that, the symbols are so blatant, that I am unable to conjure up a counter argument. This piece does not seem to be one created for controversial and abstract interpretation.

I believe that Motley did an exceptional job of representing his view of Black culture in the painting. So often did stereotypes permeate throughout artistic expressions of Blacks by Whites that certain images such as the “mammy” stereotype became ingrained in the minds of average White citizens. By portraying this woman as classy, educated, religious and humble, Motley was showing Whites that their cultural values and religious traditions are very similar to the Blacks against whom many discriminated.

"Mending Socks." Ackland Museum website. Accessed from http://www.ackland.org/tours/motley.html.

Sadness on Canvas

"I think personally our black citizens should get over [slavery]… by golly we're living in 2007," claimed Virginia Republican Delegate Frank Hargrove, debunking the very essence of artwork like “The Dutchman” by Moyo Okediji, painted in 1995 though still focusing on the lasting effects of slavery on today’s African Americans. When we usually see a painting, we first notice the medium, the space, the color choice, and the contrast within the painting and not the real meanings. These elements not only dictate our sensual perceptions but also our minds about what the artist tried to accomplish by using certain techniques. It should be no different when we view “The Dutchman.” This image not only evokes certain emotions about its historical content, namely the slave trade, but also challenges our senses with the line curvature and the coloring, not to mention its sheer size. Even without knowing what the objects in the painting represent, one can still decipher a deeper social meaning, based solely on its formal qualities, that screams of the injustices done to in the African slave trade that still endure today.

The ground medium, canvas, sends a definitive statement about the artwork. Canvas is not just use for painting, but also serves as the sails of some ships. This versatile material forces us to examine why the artist chose canvas over other mediums like wood or glass. The canvas represents the slave trade itself, binding the characters to the medium that depicts many scenes but just one instance of the suffering of the African Slave Trade. The canvas confines the subjects as the ships confined their human cargo. Canvas is a representative material of slavery because if it weren’t for canvas, the ships would not have been able to sail and this artwork would not have been painted. By choosing canvas as the medium to paint on, Okediji not only recognizes the significance canvas to the slave trade but also recognizes the finality of the moment he painted and how canvas truly locks the moment in time.

The paint media is also noteworthy. Okediji uses acrylic, which reflects the light. The acrylic paint could be symbolic of the shining light that the Americans saw slavery as. When looking directly at the painting, it appears glossy and somewhat fantastic because it is so shiny. Yet the glossy reflection gives the illusion of a happy scene, just as those Americans who owned slaves put on an air of contentment, while their slaves were miserable in their laborious lives. The texture is indicative of the false perceptions that surrounded the African slave trade. Everyone believed it was good, such as a glossy image might appear, but if one really looks at it, it is a horrible depiction of the plight of a people kidnapped and imprisoned in a foreign country. Looking at the texture alone, a somewhat cheerful scene appears. Once the real content of the painting is inspected, a despicable image emerges and dispels all illusory effects of the acrylic gleam.

Space, as a formal quality of “The Dutchman,” epitomizes the situation that the slaves dealt with on their voyage away from their home. All of the different scenes in the painting are combined into just one image, just as all the slaves packed into one ship like cargo. Each individual scene becomes indistinguishable as the image as a whole forms, so the viewer has to look hard to decipher one story from another. Okediji places a whole story inside of one painting and lets the space in between the scenes speak volumes about the compact trip that slaves endured. Though a ship ride from Africa to the Americas would have taken a couple of weeks or more, the trip for the Africans became one blur of hysterics that begins and ends brutally and quickly, leaving them dazed, just as the viewers of this painting may be if they take the painting as a whole instead of various scenes. Space remains pivotal in this painting simply because it emphasizes the confined living area the slaves encountered in each individual scene in the painting. If Okediji had chosen to paint just one particular scene from the ones he chose, the effect would not have been the same because there would have been too much space and the viewer would not get a complete idea of the restrictions forced on slaves while they were in transit.

The color choice, as noted in the online description of the painting, influences the interpretation and the social message of Okediji’s work. The colors, bright and vibrant, serve to explain the vivacity of life the slaves had before they left their native land. For a painting that uses very intricate shapes and designs, there are a limited number of colors. The limited color scheme, like the spacing, serves as a metaphor for the restrictions placed on Africans and later African Americans. Okediji sends a social commentary that can only be achieved through the intense yet limited colors he chose; the commentary being that the Africans maintained a resilient, vivid culture that the slave traders tried to inhibit. Okediji also used many shades of blue, indicative of the Atlantic and “the pain at the root of African American blues music.” The blue coloring brings about a sense of calm in most artwork, yet the color here represents the despair that slaves felt as they traversed the ocean. The water presented a constant threat to the slaves because they could drown or be thrown over. Now the color blue can be representative of the blues music genre that captures the intense pain still suffered by African Americans because of the blue ocean that took their ancestors from their rightful home. The use of the blue complements Okediji’s motivation behind this piece of artwork in that it suggests the plight of the Africans, not only in the past but also in the present.

Contrast plays an important role in this artwork. Looking at it from the left to the right, a story unfolds. The contrasting imagery employs several “elements of design to hold the viewer's attention and to guide the viewer's eye through the artwork.” The viewer looks at the contrast and is forced to follow the painting from the beginning of the slaves’ voyage to their sale. The contrasting imagery still maintains a cohesiveness that allows the painting to flow even though the shapes and subjects vary. Not a single scene pops out from the others, and yet they remain dissimilar because they have different subjects, be it drowning slaves or a Dutchman with his face turned. This cohesiveness in the face of the diverse scenes indicates the strength of the African people despite their toils. Okediji, with this contrast, states that his people will remain united though divided in different stages of life; in this case, each group of Africans undergoes a different stage of the Middle Passage between Africa and the Americas. No matter what happens to individual, contrasting Africans or African Americans, the spirit lives on.

Some may argue that Okediji’s painting simply manifests a shameful period of time from the perspective of a modern African American man and that it places too much blame on the Dutchman. Others may state that the painting overdoes the sorrow of the Africans who encountered the slave trade and that since slavery is over, no one should hold it against white people, namely the Dutch. Still others make some interesting assertions about slavery and how it never even existed; however reliable these sources seem is up for interpretation. With people like Delegate Hargrove, it is hard to say that everyone believes African Americans still have a right to the effects still felt from slavery. These arguments, though valid to some extent, do not fully encapsulate the effect that slavery had on Africans as a formerly culturally isolated group. Okediji, as an African American artist, still encountered prejudice and other feelings that linger from slavery and he wanted to make a statement about his experience as an African and that the effects from slavery surpass time.

Okediji’s painting incorporates many formal qualities that speak volumes about the history of his ancestors. He, like many modern African Americans, still feel the plight of their history and can never fully overcome the strife inflicted upon them by the Dutch and the Americans. This painting represents his feelings about the persistence of slavery-related notions and the emotions that effect people of today.

slow down freight train

Slow Down Freight Train by Rose Piper instantly snatches your attention with the abstracted despair of the subject portrayed. The contrasting colors of red and green add to the intensity of emotion by creating visual conflict within the work and eliciting the emotions of the subject from the viewer as well as representing the torn social, political, and emotional consequences of the time period.

According to Ackland’s class-study webpage on Slow Down Freight Train Rose Piper was inspired by a song called “Freight Train Blues,” a lamenting blues tune from the 1920s. The webpage also gives much historical background to the painting about a phenomenon in American history that I was not aware of known as The Great Migration.

The curving lines of the figure contrast against the very linear background to add to the fluidity of motion that the figure seems to be experiencing and allows the motion to be expressed in stark contrast to the swift-moving train that he is riding. By making the only curved lines in the entire piece form the figure it shows him as an outsider and a person who belongs somewhere else instead of riding far away from his loved ones. The artist of the piece describes the man as “the abstraction of the human figure...aris[ing] out of a single moment of heightened expression. The attenuated form suggests the essence of longing." By making the figure red against a background comprised of entirely green shades and by making every line that the figure consists of curved in contrast with the straight lines of the scene that he is sitting in makes him stick out from the painting entirely. The emotion conveyed by his crying mouth suggests that he is yelling, perhaps calling in despair for the loved ones that he has left behind.

The Great Migration of the 1920s was when many African-American males from the Southern states began to move North to work in the Chicago meat market or the Detroit automobile industry. The main catch was that they couldn’t bring their loved ones and often left behind their mothers, wives, children, and girlfriends. “Freight Train Blues,” the song which inspired Rose Piper to paint Slow Down Freight Train has a chugging, lamenting back music which makes the song drag along full of the emotion of loss. Piper uses the colors and lines to draw the eye to the man’s sorrowful face which lacks any real features except his wide crying mouth. This lack of facial features represents how, by moving up north away from his family, he is growing further away from his roots and essentially losing his identity. Piper only leaves him enough of himself to express his anguish at leaving his homeland. The expression on his face, and his exaggerated posture suggest that his soul is longing for home, his body is pointing in the direction that the train is moving away from and the shout leaving his throat seems like it is trying to reach back to the family that he left people.

Rose Piper says that the name of the painting Slow Down Freight Train is a woman telling the train to slow down so that she can catch it and go along with her man. This is an obvious reference to the song “Freight Train Blues” which is the lament of a woman whose man has gone up north to work in these brutal industries. The name of the painting as well as the song that inspired it adds an extra dimension to the work as if the lamenting figure is hearing the call of his woman back home. The interesting thing about this added dimension of the painting is that the focus and subject matter of the work itself is entirely masculine yet the inspiration, title, and even the artist are all feminine. This separation of the sexes in reality yet mixture in theory is also representative of a human soul and the longing that the subject himself and the speaker of the title have for one another.

The monotony and strangeness of the world that the figure is traveling through is represented in the very linear and parallel lines of the background. The lines of the horizon, the boards of the train, and the power lines off in the distance are all so stark and in such contrast with the fluid soulful figure that it alienates him. He appears to be in a world that he entirely does not belong to as if the further from his home that he goes the more the world around him changes into a frightening and very bleak, linear place to live. The soulful, curvy figure of the man seems as if he is suffering to death simply because his surroundings are absolutely opposite of his being.

The lines coloring and focus of the painting along with the title and cultural context all combine to make Slow Down Freight Train a very sorrowful and emotion-filled painting. The features (or lack thereof) of the figure and the contrasting colors make him even more of an outsider in the world that he is traveling to and suggest that he has left his soul behind him with his family and loved ones.