Archibald Motley

In 1927 he applied for a Guggenheim Fellowship and was denied, but he reapplied and won the fellowship in 1929. He studied in France for a year, and chose not to extend his fellowship another six months. While many contemporary artists looked back to Africa for inspiration, Motley was inspired by the great Renaissance masters whose work was displayed at the Louvre.[5] He found in the artwork there a formal sophistication and maturity that could give depth to his own work, particularly in the Dutch painters and the genre paintings of Delacroix, Hals, and Rembrandt. Motley's portraits take the conventions of the Western tradition and update them—allowing for black bodies, specifically black female bodies, a space in a history that had traditionally excluded them. He felt that portraits in particular exposed a certain transparency of truth of the internal self.[2] Thus, he would focus on the complexity of the individual in order to break from popularized caricatural stereotypes of blacks such as the "darky," "pickaninny," "mammy," etc.[2] Motley understood the power of the individual, and the ways in which portraits could embody a sort of palpable machine that could break this homogeneity. He took advantage of his westernized educational background in order to harness certain visual aesthetics that were rarely associated with blacks. Thus, he would use his knowledge as a tool for individual expression in order to create art that was meaningful aesthetically and socially to a broader American audience.[2] By acquiring these skills, Motley was able to break the barrier of white-world aesthetics. The use of this acquired visual language would allow his work to act as a vehicle for racial empowerment and social progress.

NARA black-and-white photograph of "Getting Religion" painting by Motley (original painting in color)

Motley's family lived in a quiet neighborhood on Chicago's south side in an environment that was racially tolerant. In his youth, Motley did not spend much time around other Black people. It was this disconnection with the African-American community around him that established Motley as an outsider. Motley himself was light skinned and of mixed racial makeup, being African, Native American and European. Unable to fully associate with either Black nor white, Motley wrestled all his life with his own racial identity.

Although Motley reinforces the association of higher social standing with "whiteness" or American determinates of beauty, he also exposes the diversity within the race as a whole. Motley's work made it much harder for viewers to categorize a person as strictly Black or white. He showed the nuances and variability that exists within a race, making it harder to enforce a strict racial ideology.

Motley used portraiture "as a way of getting to know his own people".[2] He realized that in American society, different statuses were attributed to each gradation of skin tone. Motley portrayed skin color and physical features as belonging to a spectrum. He used distinctions in skin color and physical features to give meaning to each shade of African American.

In the 1920s and 1930s, during the New Negro Movement, Motley dedicated a series of portraits to types of Negroes. He focused mostly on women of mixed racial ancestry, and did numerous portraits documenting women of varying African-blood quantities ("octoroon," "quadroon," "mulatto"). In titling his pieces, Motley used these antebellum creole classifications ("mulatto," "octoroon," etc.) in order to show the social implications of the "one drop rule," and the dynamics of what it means to be Black. He would expose these different "negro types" as a way to counter the fallacy of labeling all Black people as a generalized people. These direct visual reflections of status represented the broader social construction of Blackness, and its impact on Black relations. By asserting the individuality of African Americans in portraiture, Motley essentially demonstrated Blackness as being "worthy of formal portrayal."[10] These portraits celebrate skin tone as something diverse, inclusive, and pluralistic.[13] They also demonstrate an understanding that these categorizations become synonymous with public identity and influence one's opportunities in life.[14] It is often difficult if not impossible to tell what kind of racial mixture the subject has without referring to the title. These physical markers of Blackness, then, are unstable and unreliable, and Motley exposed that difference.

A painting by Motley with very bright colors

Motley spoke to a wide audience of both whites and Blacks in his portraits, aiming to educate them on the politics of skin tone, if in different ways. He hoped to prove to Black people through art that their own racial identity was something to be appreciated. For white audiences he hoped to bring an end to Black stereotypes and racism by displaying the beauty and achievements of African Americans. By displaying the richness and cultural variety of African Americans, the appeal of Motley's work was extended to a wide audience. Many were captivated by his portraiture because it contradicted stereotyped images, and instead displayed the "contemporary black experience."[10] This is consistent with Motley's aims of portraying an absolutely accurate and transparent representation of African Americans; his commitment to differentiating between skin types shows his meticulous efforts to specify even the slightest differences between individuals. In an interview with the Smithsonian Institution, Motley explained his motives and the difficulty behind painting the different skin tones of African Americans:

They're not all the same color, they're not all black, they're not all, as they used to say years ago, high yellow, they're not all brown. I try to give each one of them character as individuals. And that's hard to do when you have so many figures to do, putting them all together and still have them have their characteristics. (Motley, 1978)

By painting the differences in their skin tones, Motley is also attempting to bring out the differences in personality of his subjects. It could be interpreted that through this differentiating, Motley is asking white viewers not to lump all African Americans into the same category or stereotype, but to get to know each of them as individuals before making any judgments.[15] In this way, his work used colorism and class as central mechanisms to subvert stereotypes.[16] By harnessing the power of the individual, his work engendered positive propaganda that would incorporate "black participation in a larger national culture."[16] Motley's work pushed the ideal of the multifariousness of Blackness in a way that was widely aesthetically communicable and popular. In the end, this would instill a sense of personhood and individuality for Blacks through the vehicle of visuality.

Many whites wouldn't give Motley commissions to paint their portraits, yet the majority of his collectors were white.[10] He was able to expose a part of the Black community that was often not seen by whites, and thus, through aesthetics, broaden the scope of the authentic Black experience.

During this time, Alain Locke coined the idea of the "New Negro," which was very focused on creating progressive and uplifting images of Blacks within society. In addition, many magazines such as the Chicago Defender, The Crisis, and Opportunity all aligned with prevalent issues of Black representation.[2] Aesthetics had a powerful influence in expanding the definitions of race. Consequently, many were encouraged to take an artistic approach in the context of social progress. In The Crisis, Carl Van Vechten wrote, "What are negroes when they are continually painted at their worst and judged by the public as they are painted ... preventing white artists from knowing any other types (of Black people) and preventing Black artists from daring to paint them ..."[2] Motley would use portraiture as a vehicle for positive propaganda by creating visual representations of Black diversity and humanity. He would break down the dichotomy between Blackness and Americanness by demonstrating social progress through complex visual narratives.

NARA black-and-white photograph of "Black Belt," painting by Motley (original painting in color)

His night scenes and crowd scenes, heavily influenced by jazz culture, are perhaps his most popular and most prolific. He depicted a vivid, urban black culture that bore little resemblance to the conventional and marginalizing rustic images of black Southerners so familiar in popular culture.[17] It is important to note, however, that it was not his community he was representing—he was among the affluent and elite black community of Chicago. He married a white woman and lived in a white neighborhood, and was not a part of that urban experience in the same way his subjects were.

In his paintings of jazz culture, Motley often depicted Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, which offered a safe haven for blacks migrating from the South.[18] One of his most famous works showing the urban black community is Bronzeville at Night, showing African Americans as actively engaged, urban peoples who identify with the city streets. In the work, Motley provides a central image of the lively street scene and portrays the scene as a distant observer, capturing the many individual interactions but paying attention to the big picture at the same time.[19]

Like many of his other works, Motley's cross-section of Bronzeville lacks a central narrative. For example, a brooding man with his hands in his pockets gives a stern look. Behind the bus, a man throws his arms up ecstatically. In the center, a man exchanges words with a partner, his arm up and head titled as if to show that he is making a point. By displaying a balance between specificity and generalization, he allows "the viewer to identify with the figures and the places of the artist's compositions."[19]

In Stomp, Motley painted a busy cabaret scene which again documents the vivid urban black culture. The excitement in the painting is palpable: one can observe a woman in a white dress throwing her hands up to the sound of the music, a couple embracing—hand in hand—in the back of the cabaret, the lively pianist watching the dancers. Both black and white couples dance and hobnob with each other in the foreground. For example, on the right of the painting, an African-American man wearing a black tuxedo dances with a woman whom Motley gives a much lighter tone. By doing this, he hoped to counteract perceptions of segregation.

Critics of Motley point out that the facial features of his subjects are in the same manner as minstrel figures. But Motley had no intention to stereotype and hoped to use the racial imagery to increase "the appeal and accessibility of his crowds."[20] It opened up a more universal audience for his intentions to represent African-American progress and urban lifestyle.

The Octoroon Girl features a woman who is one-eighth black. In the image a graceful young woman with dark hair, dark eyes and light skin sits on a sofa while leaning against a warm red wall. She wears a black velvet dress with red satin trim, a dark brown hat and a small gold chain with a pendant. In her right hand, she holds a pair of leather gloves. The woman stares directly at the viewer with a soft, but composed gaze. Her face is serene. Motley balances the painting with a picture frame and the rest of the couch on the left side of the painting. Her clothing and background all suggest that she is of higher class. The poised posture and direct gaze project confidence. The way in which her elongated hands grasp her gloves demonstrates her sense of style and elegance. Motley's use of physicality and objecthood in this portrait demonstrates conformity to white aesthetic ideals, and shows how these artistic aspects have very realistic historical implications.

Motley was "among the few artists of the 1920s who consistently depicted African Americans in a positive manner."[21] The Octoroon Girl is an example of this effort to put African-American women in a good light – or, perhaps, simply to make known the realities of middle class African-American life. Motley's presentation of the woman not only fulfilled his desire to celebrate accomplished blacks but also created an aesthetic role model to which those who desired an elite status might look up to. The Octoroon Girl was meant to be a symbol of social, racial, and economic progress.

In Motley's paintings, he made little distinction between octoroon women and white women, depicting octoroon women with material representations of status and European features. It appears that the message Motley is sending to his white audience is that even though the octoroon woman is part African American, she clearly does not fit the stereotype of being poor and uneducated. He requests that white viewers look beyond the genetic indicators of her race and see only the way she acts now—distinguished, poised and with dignity. In his attempt to deconstruct the stereotype, Motley has essentially removed all traces of the octoroon's race.

In his portrait The Mulatress (1924), Motley features a "mulatto" sitter who is very poised and elegant in the way that "the octoroon girl" is. The sitter is strewn with jewelry, and sits in such a way that projects a certain chicness and relaxedness. She is portrayed as elegant, but a sharpness and tenseness are evident in her facial expression. Motley was ultimately aiming to portray the troubled and convoluted nature of the "tragic mulatto."[2] Motley himself identified with this sense of feeling caught in the middle of one's own identity. Thus, this portrait speaks to the social implications of racial identity by distinguishing the "mulatto" from the upper echelons of black society that was reserved for "octoroons."[2] In this way, Motley used portraiture in order to demonstrate the complexities of the impact of racial identity.

Motley used sharp angles and dark contrasts within the model's face to indicate that she was emotional or defiant. While this gave the subject more personality and depth, it can also be said the Motley played into the stereotype that black women are angry and vindictive. Many of the opposing messages that are present in Motley's works are attributed to his relatively high social standing which would create an element of bias even though Motley was also black. Still, Motley was one of the only artists of the time willing to paint African-American models with such precision and accuracy. He treated these portraits as a quasi-scientific study in the different gradients of race.

The distinction between the girl's couch and the mulatress' wooden chair also reveals the class distinctions that Motley associated with each of his subjects. In this series of portraits, Motley draws attention to the social distinctions of each subject.

During this period, Motley developed a reusable and recognizable language in his artwork, which included contrasting light and dark colors, skewed perspectives, strong patterns and the dominance of a single hue. He also created a set of characters who appeared repeatedly in his paintings with distinctive postures, gestures, expressions and habits. These figures were often depicted standing very close together, if not touching or overlapping one another. Nightlife, in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, depicts a bustling night club with people dancing in the background, sitting at tables on the right and drinking at a bar on the left.[22] The entire image is flushed with a burgundy light that emanates from the floor and walls, creating a warm, rich atmosphere for the club-goers. The rhythm of the music can be felt in the flailing arms of the dancers, who appear to be performing the popular Lindy hop. In contrast, the man in the bottom right corner sits and stares in a drunken stupor. Another man in the center and a woman towards the upper right corner also sit isolated and calm in the midst of the commotion of the club.

In an interview with the Smithsonian Institution, Motley explained this disapproval of racism he tries to dispel with Nightlife and other paintings:

And that's why I say that racism is the first thing that they have got to get out of their heads, forget about this damned racism, to hell with racism. ... That means nothing to an artist. We're all human beings. And the sooner that's forgotten and the sooner that you can come back to yourself and do the things that you want to do. (Motley 1978)

In this excerpt, Motley calls for the removal of racism from social norms. He goes on to say that especially for an artist, it shouldn't matter what color of skin someone has—everyone is equal. He suggests that once racism is erased, everyone can focus on his or her self and enjoy life. In Nightlife, the club patrons appear to have forgotten racism and are making the most of life by having a pleasurable night out listening and dancing to jazz music. As a result of the club-goers removal of racism from their thoughts, Motley can portray them so pleasantly with warm colors and inviting body language.[5]