Facing History: The Black Image in American Art, 1710-1940
Facing History: The Black Image in American Art, 1710–1940 was the first public exhibition by a major museum to showcase depictions of African Americans in American art.[1] Facing History took place in 1990 and was held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from January 13 through March 25, and then went to the Brooklyn Museum from April 20 through June 25. The curator of the exhibition, Guy McElroy, died during the Brooklyn portion on May 31.[2]
History
Facing History examined ways in which American artists "...reinforced a number of largely restrictive stereotypes of black identity."[3] The exhibition featured eighty works in three media: drawings, paintings, and sculptures [4]
Curator Guy McElroy viewed the exhibition as depicting the attitude of society toward African Americans through the works themselves and the response they received in the art market. They made overt political statements, as well as having addressed contemporary issues. Stereotypes, slavery, and violence dominated the images. However, as McElroy stated in the exhibition catalog:
Depictions of black people can no longer rely on gross distortions of physiognomy or character to achieve racially motivated humor, but the symbolic power of visual images remains insidious. Jim Crow, Uncle Tom, Mammy, the Comic Darkey and Zip Coon no longer dominate images of African-Americans in painting and sculpture, but their ghosts live on in a host of popular mediums, most notably in the violence of action serials and the stereotyped behavior of television sitcoms.
— Guy McElroy, "Introduction: Race and Representation", Facing History, 1990
Selected works
- Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences by Samuel Jennings, 1792
- Abner Coker by Joshua Johnson, c. 1807
- Winter Scene in Brooklyn by Francis Guy, c. 1820
- Rustic Dance After a Sleigh Ride by William Sidney Mount, 1830
- The Money Diggers by John Quidor, 1832
- Kitchen Ball by Christian Friedrich Mayr, 1838
- Joseph Cinqué by Nathaniel Jocelyn, 1840
- Militia Training by James Goodwyn Clonney, 1841
- The Devil and Tom Walker by Charles Deas, 1843
- William Whipper by William Matthew Prior, 1845
- Eel Spearing at Setauket by William Sidney Mount, 1845
- The Power of Music by William Sidney Mount, 1847
- Old and Young 48 by Richard Caton Woodville, Sr., 1849
- Waking Up by James Goodwyn Clonney, 1851
- All Talk and No Work by Francis William Edmonds, c. 1855
- The Bone Player by William Sidney Mount, 1856
- Market Woman by Thomas Waterman Wood, 1858
- Plantation Burial by John Antrobus, 1860
- Slaves Waiting for Sale by Eyre Crowe, 1861
- The Watermelon Boys by Winslow Homer, 1876
- Rail Shooting by Thomas Eakins, 1876
References
- Kastor, Elizabeth (1990-01-14). "Guy Mcelroy, Facing His Future". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
- Glueck, Grace (5 June 1990). "Guy McElroy, Art Historian, 44; Organized Show on Black Images". The New York Times.
- "Archives". Los Angeles Times. 18 February 1990.