By Denise Taylor Globe Correspondent / May 13, 20
At first glance, Edward Savage’s 1798 print “The Washington Family’’ appears to simply depict our first president and his family. But another figure in the scene tells a different story. Behind George, Martha, and their three gesturing children stands a still and solitary figure. He is a black man, a house slave whom the artist included but did not name. As one critic observed, his presence is portrayed with the same import as “the chair or plush drapery.’’
“For so long, African-Americans were invisible to our society. They were not meant to be seen or considered,’’ said Katherine French, director of the Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham.
But the Danforth’s newest exhibition zeroes in on images of — and by — African-Americans from the Colonial era to the early 20th century. “African Americans: Seeing and Seen, 1766-1916’’ is a contemplative, unsettling show that carefully dissects the emerging country’s prejudices and changing attitudes.
“Sociologically, this show sometimes portrays a view that isn’t quite comfortable,’’ said French. “While some works are very tender, respectful portraits, some are vicious caricatures taken from the popular press. Together, they offer a very interesting explanation of how African-Americans were seen and how they saw themselves, and what life was like for them.’’
The display is on loan from Manhattan’s Babcock Galleries, where it recently concluded its run. The 35 works are as varied as their creators. Images from the late-1800s “Darktown Comics’’ series cruelly disparage African-Americans. Others romanticize slavery and inequality in deceptively cozy scenes. But other views emerge. Some works depict the rise of antislavery views. Others reveal a slow shift away from caricature to more neutral physical portrayal of African-Americans — by both white and black artists. “It’s a good exploration of self-image,’’ said French.
The images also shed light on the Danforth’s exhibition of sculptures by Meta Warrick Fuller, in its final month after being on display since September. A student of Rodin and other noted sculptors in Paris around 1900, Fuller was one of the first African-American artists to realistically portray black subjects, and was the first American woman to make a successful living as an artist. The entire contents of her former studio in Framingham — where she moved after marrying a town resident, Dr. Solomon Fuller, the first psychiatrist of African descent to practice in the United States — were donated to the Danforth in 2005.
“These works reflect the kind of society Fuller grew up with and came from, and really help us understand what it was like for her in considering becoming an artist,’’ said French.
“Fuller was an important member of the Harlem Renaissance. She is important to American art history, and she is important to us not just because she lived in Framingham, but because she was a great artist. So I feel a real responsibility to help our audience understand the challenges she had to becoming an artist herself.’’Continued...
