Blog post 1

              Starting this project, I was fascinated with the use of live Africans as status symbols in European paintings. The main theme I am looking to explore with this series of Blog posts is how European nobility used Africa and its people as status symbols to portray their prosperity, beauty, and “expansive” worldview. I think the use and exploitation of the African people as essentially decorations and accolades as shown in the paintings I will introduce directly relates to the idea of “borders”, the clash of European and African culture, and it highlights how they begin to blur when looking at social, political, and economic issues.

1530s Paris Bordone (Italian painter, 1500-1571) Portrait of a Man in Armor with Two Pages.

              In the above painting, a high ranking European official is depicted with two young boys, identified as pages, in his portrait. Such a portrait would be commissioned by the official or his army to commend long standing service, or simply as a portrait to have for the many reasons one of prestige would have such a portrait. The influence of Africa on this painting is apparent in that one of the pages is an African child.  First off, the man is shown to be in full armor with two pages, with what seems to be a full army at his command, this portrait has a distinct goal of showing how important this official is. The one page that is white is in a much closer embrace when compared to the African child, whom is shown holding his helmet, as if comparing the color of his skin to the color of the black helmet. The African child is also in a much darker background in dark clothing, as if to emphasize how dark he really is in comparison to the two Europeans. The reason an artist such as Bordone would make such an artistic choice is simple, it was in fashion to show off how lightly colored your skin was when compared to Africans, it was a status symbol. Another reason is perhaps simply to show off the exoticism of having an African child as a page, when people that see the portrait marvel at how black the child is the official seems much more illustrious, well traveled, and cultured for having been exposed to such a foreign presence. Although slavery was not very popular in Europe, having a black child in servitude was still very popular, and having one in your service, as a page in the above painting for example, served to show off how wealthy and important you were.  So in the above painting the African child serves to illustrate the officials wealth, status, and power. Such is the way African children were used essentially as décor, which becomes prevalent in the artistic choices the painter makes when creating such a portrait which has the purpose of making the person who commissioned it look as awesome as possible, such as making the child as dark as possible. Although it may not be the intention, the African child is shown as being more subservient than the European child, with whom the official is in an embrace, and is depicted as actively holding the man’s helmet. In this we can see a distinct separation between the way Europeans and Africans are treated in these types of portraits. 

Blog Post One

Eugene Delacroix (26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a romantic painter with great influence through his works. One of his most famous paintings is Liberty Leading the People (1830), Louvre, Paris which depicts a "figure of Liberty" leading the French people and holding a French flag high into the air. Delacroix’s painting represents the French romantic style as well as liberty, fraternity, and importantly French nationalism.

While Delacroix’s themes of nationalism are present in most of his paintings, he had a strong fascination with other cultures especially of the “orient”. Delacroix was so fascinated by North African culture that he spent 4 months capturing the lives of Arabs through sketches and paintings. One particular painting by Delacroix that I will focus on is titled Women of Algiers in their Apartment and it is pictured below.

 

Eugène Delacroix. Women of Algiers in their Apartment. 1834. Oil on canvas. 180 × 229cm. Louvre.

This painting was created by Delacroix after his visit to Algiers in 1832. A short background on the history of the piece and the time period; during this time Muslim women either stayed in home to take care of their children and when they went outside they wore veils, so it was difficult for Delacroix to find female subjects. In addition Europeans were not allowed to enter harems which were living quarters where the multiple wives or concubines of a male lives, and it is what this painting depicts. It is unknown today whether Delacroix was snuck inside this room with the women, if he was told about it by someone else, or if he came up with the scene in his imagination. But the closeness in which the scene happens has a dazzling effect on the viewer.

Because the women are so close to the forefront of the viewer, it makes it seem like the scene is happening right there in front of the viewer’s eyes. This perception of feeling like the viewer is in the room adds to a sense of intimacy. The physical closeness of the three women on the left also adds to a sense of intimacy felt from the painting. I believe that Delacroix was portraying these feelings of intimacy as a way to appeal to the exotic as well as erotic world that is so unlike that of France and other European countries. French culture was stifling at the time and this relaxed and inviting environment being portrayed attracts the interest of French and European people. The warm colors also create a comfortable environment which makes the viewer feel comfortable as well.

No matter if Eugene Delacroix created this image from memory or imagination, all in all I believe that he was simply sending a message of exotic beauty that is fascinating to the European audience. His enthrallment with this different culture shines through the beautiful portrayal of these women and their comfortable and contented life in Algiers.

Blog Post #1

            In this project I would like to explore the theme of portraiture of European elites with African slaves. This topic is of interest because of the extensive background and history that influenced the creation of these portraits. Slavery was present in Europe for hundreds of years, changing the tendencies of the culture and furthermore, the people. What caught my attention in these portraitures is that the European elites included individuals from the other side of the economic spectrum, people who were of extremely poor backgrounds. This theme includes the theme of trade because it includes the slaves that were taken out of Africa and sent to Europe for the use of the elites. At the time, having slaves was a sign of abundance of wealth.

            The image above perfectly reflects this theme and the history behind it is the Portrait of the Duchess of Portsmouth by Pierre Mignard in 1682. In this portrait we see the Duchess with a young servant on her side. She is dressed in very fine clothing as expected. The servant is also wearing fine clothing; this was not the normal type of clothes that slaves and servants would be wearing. Why would they dress a servant in expensive clothing? Was it just for the portrait? It is really important to observe this detail because it set this young slave apart from the rest.

            The Duchess also has an arm around her servant, which is interesting because this is a gesture that elites did with their children. On the other hand, the young servant is looking at the woman with an expression of complete admiration. This highlights the idea that white women were highly admired in society. White skin was regarded as a very fine trait of a person. The whiter a person was, the more wealth they had. This was because they were not required to go out of the house to do manual labor, since the slaves would do it for them.

           

            Another important aspect of this portrait is the jewelry that is being held by the servant in a seashell. The shell contains an undue amount of pearls. This aspect also shows trade among borders. The Europeans acquired these precious materials from colonies. The African American Servant and the jewelry indicate that the Duchess in this portrait is extremely wealthy.

           

            From these portraits I would like to learn why these servants were included. Were they actually treated as well as they seem to be treated in the portrait? What was their main job with the elites? Wouldn’t the elites prefer having assistants that were mature and experienced?

Blog Post 1

Blog Post 1 
By: Bitzi Evans 

For my blog project, I chose to start my research with the painting Louise de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth by Pierre Mignard. This portrait is an oil painting done on canvas in 1682 . It is currently hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in London.  The Duchess was the mistress of Charles II and was painted when the Duchess visited Paris in 1682. 

            I chose this painting because after viewing it in class, I thought it was very beautifully done. I thought it was interesting how the black servant was dressed. She is dressed in very beautiful, high fashion clothes and wearing a string of large pearls around her neck. This is very different than any other depiction I had seen of servants in this time period, and I thought it would be interest to look at in a more in-depth setting.

            This piece relates to borders with the African world in a very direct way because there is an African servant in the painting with the Duchess I thought this was very peculiar until I did some further research on the subject. Then I found out that many of the upper class women were given black children from Africa as presents from other very wealthy individuals. In the case of the Duchess of Portsmouth, she was speculated to have been given the child as a present to persuade Charles II and to be in his favor.

            This was shocking to me. They treated this little girl like a pet. I understand that slavery was going on and that would be way worse for this little girl to be a slave girl in the colonies. However, in this painting she is basically being used as a status symbol. Since the Duchess in the painting is a mistress of Charles II, she basically is saying that Charles II is so successful even his mistress’s servant is dressed in pearls and fine clothes. The same feat could have been accomplished by just having the mistress wear a fancy necklace and paint her so pale because she would never have to go outside to work. But instead, the artist chose to use a little black servant as a status symbol, which I found very interesting.

            This was one way the idea of borders was used in this painting. For one, this girl would have been traded for by the person who gave her to the Duchess or picked up as a present when a wealthy merchant was visiting Africa. So she had to cross literal borders to make it to England where she would become a servant to the Duchess.

            She would also have to cross class borders to be a servant to the Duchess. She would be coming from Africa as a poor child in the lowest class where she and her family would be taken advantage of by slave traders and have no choices. Than she would be taken to the highest echelons of society and forced to act like high-class society members.

            I would like to learn more about how common it was to give servants as presents. I would also like to learn what life was like for these children and how they came to be in this situation. I would also like to learn more about different portraits with black servants and see if they were as well treated, as this little girl seems to be. Or if it as a façade and they were only brought out to show off.

Work Cited

"The National Portrait Gallery/Current Exhibitions." The National Portrait Gallery/Current Exhibitions. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

 As European countries started to colonize Africa, and Asia their curiosity grew bigger towards the cultures of their colonies. Furthermore, they become much more interested in cultures of Middle Eastern countries like Ottoman Empire. The painting I am going to talk about today is Bachi-Bouzouk Négre by Jean- Léon Gérome because I believe that Gérome’s intentions for painting this picture went beyond his interest in the Ottoman Culture. As historically presented, European countries started to colonize African countries, which led them to bring slaves to Europe from their colonies. Since Slavery was banned in some parts of Europe, We can assume that some people realized that slavery was a immoral thing to do. However, majority of the Europe carried on their slave trade because it was very profitable. I personally believe that Gérome portrayed an African man in Ottoman soldier uniform because he wanted to convey that slavery was not justifiable. Soldiers had a higher status in Ottoman Empire and it was well known among European countries so I believe that Gérome took it upon himself to portray that if Ottomans were treating Africans just like any of their citizens, European countries should to the same because it was the right thing to do. Which makes me believe that some of the artist had a greater reason investigate and portray African and Asian cultures than just curiosity. Looking at the painting we see that an African male is holding a rifle and he is dressed up in a uniform that is made off of a relatively expensive material that could be a way for Gérome to convey the status of the African male. Furthermore, looking at the face of the man,  we can see that he looks rather aggressive, which could reflect his power. The reason I picked this painting is because contrary to most of the paintings that include African individuals, this painting is one of the few, which depicts them in a relatively noble way by themselves. One reason that confuses me about this picture is that, I do not see why Gérome would not paint a picture of an African tribe leader if he wanted to depict African man as someone powerful. I think the reason is because Ottoman Empire is much more accessible to European artists. Furthermore, Ottoman Empire is known for bringing African man to Anatolia to employ them as soldiers so it could be assumed that it was easier for Gérome to find an African man that has some sort of status in Ottoman Empire and he wanted to show his countryman that African people are much more capable of just being salves and serving the nobility.

Borders Project #1

Of particular interest within the topic of borders is the theme of Europeans who had portraits painted with their African servants. The painting specifically that sparked my interest in this topic is The Duchess of Portsmouth by Pierre Mignard.  The image itself can be interpreted in any number of ways upon first appearance, which is part of what makes it such an interesting piece of scholarly study. The woman looks affectionate towards the young African girl, however the picture alone lacks the answers to what their relationship is. One cannot say whether this is a loving relationship, or just the common relationship between an African servant and white master. The intention of creating such portraits is easy enough to interpret within European historical context as being a symbol of status, as portraits were not only popular at the time in of themselves, but also a method by which people were able to cultivate an image that they wanted to portray to people. The impression that I had the first time I looked at this portrait was that in trying to maximize the extent to which her skin looked white, this would have been an easy method of doing so. This seems to be a common theme amongst European art, since pale skin was a sign of beauty, of trying to make one’s skin look as pale as possible. Also, that she was most likely trying to show off the degree of her wealth and power in being able to own a child servant of African descent. The ambiguity of the relationship portrayed though in not only this particular portrait, but in others as well, is why I became particularly intrigued by this recurring theme.

Generally though, there is a deeper meaning that relates to the idea of borders that I hope to look deeper in to within the scope of this borders project. It is the idea of trying to better understand the roles and thoughts of the Europeans and Africans within the portraits and create a story of how these people would have interacted. The first time I remember seeing The Duchess of Portsmouth, I distinctly remember pontificating upon the idea of what the African girl must have been thinking and feeling at that time. Assuming that she had been taken from her home across borders to Europe, a vastly different place than anywhere she could have called home originally, could she have been containing sadness, or could she possibly have been pleased to be in the care of a European? I plan on looking at a variety of different examples upon this theme and with more research being able to fill in the gaps of these questions. I start off with the general assumption that Europeans commissioned these paintings in order to convey prestige and utilize their African servants as prized “possessions” to be showcased in order to better their images within society. I would like to learn whether this is a fair assumption, and better understand the answers to the questions that I have regarding how relations are portrayed within these portraits.

Post #1

          It is difficult to choose a specific work of art to analyze as a reflection of African and European relationships and borders. The connection between these two continents is intriguing and incredibly complex so it is important to choose an object that will portray in details the scope of this relationship. The enigmatic 1778 painting attributed to Johann Zoffany of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay (1761 -1804) and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (1760-1825) fits this description.

            This painting portrays two young women: the one placed front and center is a fair-skinned, blond woman with a book in her hand who reaches out to a giggly, dark-skinned young woman who is placed slightly on the background. It was believed until the 1980s that the dark-skinned woman was a servant in the Mansfield household. It was only when the British historian Gene Adams dove into documents about this family and their property that Belle’s deep connection was brought to surface.   

            Dido (who was also mentioned as Belle) was the first dark skinned British aristocrat. She was an illegitimate daughter of a slave and a noble Navy officer called John Lindsay. As in the case of most slaves trafficked to the colonies, little documentation was ever found on Dido’s mother's origins and whereabouts. All we know is that her mother was an African slave named Maria Belle; she was brought to the Caribbean on a Spanish ship and that Lindsay probably took her as his concubine. Dido’s story shows that the connection between England, Africa and the Caribbean was not restricted to commodities as coffee, sugar, rum, cotton, and slaves: Many Europeans fathered illegitimate mixed-race children leading to a blending of genes and culture. Captain and later Admiral Lindsay, however, was the first to take his daughter back to England. Dido, at her father’s request, was raised by her extended family in a luxurious mansion in the English countryside.

          It is difficult to establish what this painting’s function is since it is surrounded by unanswered questions. What can be assumed is that this portrait was probably commissioned by Elizabeth’s and Dido’s uncle who was incredibly fond of both girls and treated them as daughters. So this painting probably was not a mere juxtaposition of white versus dark skin or to flaunt the family’s social and economic status. Certainly these factors play a part in this portrait but they are not its main purpose: I believe this piece of artwork places the cousin as friends and lively young women with bright futures ahead of them – regardless of their skin tone. This painting has a cheerful and even hopeful atmosphere to it by portraying both girls giggling, the use of pastel colors (the pale pink and the white dress, the beautiful sky, and the first glimpse of light in the horizon on the bottom left corner), and them doing leisure activities (reading a book or carrying fruits). This is painting represents a happy household despite the gossip surrounding Belle and racial discrimination present at the time.

Reaching Beyond our Borders: Oriental Influences on European Art during the 19th Century

During the 19^th century, the African continent beckoned distant European travelers to explore and colonize the terrain in the name of their homeland. European countries, such as France and Great Britain, reached the shores of Africa and quickly established new boundaries in order to maintain their newly acquired territory. As Europeans came upon different and previously unknown cultures, a new fascination emerged amongst people over the exotic nature of the colonies. Therefore, I have selected my blog post to cover the theme of Orientalism and its allure to a European audience.

Figure 1

The "Orient", a term used by Europeans to refer to the Mediterranean area, North Africa, Turkey, and the Middle East, became a massive influence on European artists who travelled to these areas. The painting titled The Snake Charmer (late 1860’s) by the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, creates a scene where the eyes of a European viewer is instantly captured by the mystical nature of the composition (Figure 1). The blatant nudity of the young boy, who stands with his back to the viewer, clearly contrasts with the richly blue tinted tilled wall and the seated men in the background of the painting. Artists started interjecting orientalist imagery and iconography into their work due to their exposure to the culture. However, this inclusion presented as problematic because European artists did not fully understand the cultural components surrounding the subject matter of their painting. They were painting the "Orient" through European eyes rather than capturing the true essence of the culture.

Additionally, it is imperative to consider the audience’s experience and reaction to compositions depicting such foreign imagery. As these paintings depicted new and mysterious subject matters and since many where uninformed of cultural practices outside their own, these works imposed the illusion onto European viewers that they were experiencing an imagined reality. As seem with The Snake Charmer, these paintings are also highly dramatic. This is accomplished through the utilization of their Oriental subject matter as well as their dynamic compositional qualities such as the use of bright colors, lines, use of space, and utilization of foreign architecture.
      This theme relates to idea of borders because European artists implemented Oriental architecture, customs, and subject within their paintings. This transaction of iconography was made possible through the increase of travels conducted by Europeans. Oriental culture traversed the threshold of its native lands and extended its reach into Europe and across its countries’ borders. This ultimately created hybrid compositions that assimilated Oriental imagery, which artists tailored to their European audience. I am looking forward to conducting more research on this topic. What I would like to investigate and learn more about surrounds the social acceptance of these paintings by European audiences. I wonder what a 19^th century French aristocrat would say about The Snake Charmer. Would he reject the image due to its foreign qualities or would he accept it as a form of artistic expression? There are questions I would like to investigate over the course of the semester. 

Borders Project-Post #1

The starting point of my project is focused on the artwork Portrait of the Duchess of Portsmouth, 1682, by Pierre Mignard. I would like to explore the theme of portraiture of this time, and how it coincides with the representation of people of African descent (slaves or servants painted in the portraits of wealthy Europeans). I am particularly interested in not only how the young girl in this portrait is portrayed—as well as others in similar portraits—but also the objects she holds. I chose this work in part because I want to explore not only how wealthy Europeans chose to represent their servants (and messages they wanted to promote), but also how they treated and regarded them. I want to learn more about life for African slaves who were in wealthy European homes. It would be very interesting if I can find significant accounts of how their lives were and if that information was potentially conveyed in the visual representations.

Another point about this painting that I want to study further is what the little girl is holding, specifically the red coral. The red coral was very intriguing to me because I learned about its significance in certain dress practices in Benin (specifically coral bead crowns for the Oba in the Benin Kingdom) in a previous class. The coral was traded within the Kingdom with traders from the Mediterranean. Tracing the trade of things like red coral or pearls, and connecting potential connotations with the paintings I will research, could help further elucidate the means of visual representation employed by these wealthy Europeans. I want to further research the importance or value of the red coral, shell, and pearls, and connect that to export and trade with African countries, while making connections between these things and why they would be included in the portraiture with the servants.

This project relates to borders with respect to the influence of things like trade (of materials such as pearls and red coral), which connects multiple European and African countries. Further, the trade was not one-sided—the Europeans desired certain goods that became available during colonization; however people in African countries also desired and acquired goods important to them. Also, Europeans used not only the goods garnered from expanded trade to convey certain messages in their portraiture, but also used servants from Africa to support those messages (the ethics of which, from a modern-day stand point, will most definitely be explored in this project). Thus, European portraiture was influenced by colonial expansion.

Based on what I know at this point, the inclusion of African slaves/servants in the portraits of wealthy and important European people is mainly to convey the wealth of those Europeans. The little girl is dressed in fine clothing she holds objects that are valuable, which further solidifies that the woman must have considerable wealth. The fact that the woman has attendants such as this little girl also connotes the amount of money she possesses. With respect to the juxtaposition of the woman with the girl, skin color contrast is also meant to highlight the very white skin of the woman. This further illustrates how wealthy the woman is—she is leisurely and does not have to work, but can remain indoors (thus remaining very pale). I want to explore this painting and others like it more, paying particular attention to how the African servants are portrayed (and if I can find out more information about their lives and if this can be seen in how they are painted).

Post #1

Marissa Maister

Blog Post #1

            The theme I would like to explore is portraits of Europeans with African servants, particularly African children.  To start off one of the first thing to consider when looking at these images is, where did the African children in these 16th century paintings come from?  Slavery had existed in Europe for many centuries.  Although some parts of Europe had slavery abolished for places such as Southern and Eastern Europe, slavery remained a part of everyday life.  Slave trade across the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast brought African slaves to places such as Spain, the south of France, and Portugal.  When it comes to European portraiture by just looking at it, it is almost impossible to tell if the young Africans in the paintings are enslaved, one would have to know some history.  The confusion is due to the manner by which these children are depicted.  The adolescents are well dressed in fine clothing, wearing jewelry and are showing admiration for the European next to them by looking up at them.  Some of the African children are even smiling while gazing up at the adult next to them.  Various Europeans in the portraits have a hand placed on the children, a gesture one would expect them to do to their own children, not their servants.  All of this is most likely due to being a servant of a noble.  Most young slaves and servants of a noble probably would have received lessons in social graces, such as what to wear and how to eat properly.  Portraits of aristocrats began including black servants to suggest the reach of Western power.  These portraits showed how Africans became simply additions within the images of the aristocrats.  They could be seen as “exotic", or decoration replacing the usual dog or flower.  The slave had become the new symbol of prestige and wealth in society, or be perceived as an indication of power in European paintings.   An excellent example of these descriptions is Louise de Kéroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth, which was created in 1682 by Pierre Mignard, a French artist.  In this portrait Mignard depicts the Duchess of Portsmouth with a young female African servant.  The servant is well dressed, with expensive clothes and jewelry.  She is even holding a seashell full of pearls in one hand and coral in the other.  The Duchess has her hand on the child, which is the only indicator that she even knows the child is there because the Duchesses gaze is directly on us, the viewer.   All while the child is looking up at her with appreciation.  Altogether these aspects further my argument of how African servants were decoration and sign of power in aristocratic Europeans.  I would like to find more images, beyond that with women and servants, which further this argument.