Final Blog Post

        During the 19th century, expanding technology and markets brought a change in borders and a convergence of cultures, particularly in Europe and Africa. The affects can be seen today and what is important to note is how these colliding cultures are represented through the visual arts. The representation of Africans in European art varies, however each student's blog posts on the theme of borders maintains a few common strings that hold them all together. It is interesting to see that throughout each different painting, there are the same themes of showing status and wealth, showing exoticism and being worldly, and finally superiority.

          An example of the theme of status and wealth that is present in all of the representations of Africans in European art is the portrayal of servants. In many of the paintings young African servants were shown as a prop to whoever was having their portrait done. Showing the servant shows how much money the person in the portrait has because it was expensive to have servants. In addition, the African servants are painted very dark and the Europeans are painted very light skinned. This emphasizes how light skinned the European is who is getting the portrait done, which was a symbol of status at the time because it meant you could afford leisure instead of working outside. In addition, showing objects from other countries showed wealth because it was expensive to travel and trade.

          Another common thread to all of the posts is the theme of exoticism and worldliness. As mentioned above having objects, whether they are people or art, from other countries was considered exotic. That is because the cultures outside of Europe were so different from the Europeans. The differentness of items from other cultures made the people who had them appear to be cultured, well traveled, and worldly. It became trendy to add elements of other cultures to your life because it set you apart from other Europeans who didn't have the time or money to do such things. 

          Lastly, the blog posts contain themes of superiority and power struggles. There are power struggles between the aristocrat and the servant, the colonist and the colony, the West and the Orient, and the men and the women. It is easy to see the superiority complex, especially in paintings of servants and their owners. For example, the European getting his or her portrait done is looking straight at the viewer showing confidence and strength while the servants are looking at the owner. This shows how the servant depends on the owner. In addition, representations of Africa and the Orient show it to be wild, unkept, sensual, and corrupt. This heightens the Westerner’s views that their culture is superior.

          Overall there are many themes that bring the main theme of borders together. As the cultural borders changed during this time so did the perceptions of culture. Using art history to understand and explain the perspective of the time is helpful and allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the cultures of the time. The most important thing one should take away from this project is the power that art and media has in relaying perceptions onto people. Art is powerful and we should use it to express the goodness that is in this world.