Rachel
Throughout European history, sculptures played a vital role in the expression and evolution of art; as many colonial immigrants traveled from Britain where sculpture was a less popular genre of art, it can be assumed that painting and portraiture were the dominant factors in colonial-era British society, which of course filtered into American art. As the countries of origin for immigrants shifted, from Western to Southern and Eastern Europe, the artistic styles they brought with them promoted a diverse range of exploration which resulted with the eclectic pattern of nineteenth and early twentieth century art.
With industrialization at its peak, art was introduced to the concept of mass production. One of the first items to reach factories were small figurines often made of plaster, available for purchase for the home. While a majority of these figurines were simply for aesthetic appeal, John Rogers’s Slave Auction conveyed a vastly different connotation. In this piece, a white auctioneer dominates the bidding of a slave family below the podium; “the male slave assumes an angry and aggressive stance [while] the woman cradles one child in her arms while another hides behind her skirt” (Pohl), a clear indication not only of the lack of dignity and respect toward African Americans but also that such treatment will no longer be tolerated. Even the artist commented “that none of the stores will receive [my piece] to sell for fear of offending their southern customers” (Pohl). As art always reflects the mood of the era, Slave Auction accurately depicts the lessening tolerance from African Americans towards their treatment and foreshadows the bloody violence of the Civil War.
Public monuments have existed for centuries but have mostly been confined to Europe once again. However, especially after the Civil War the number of memorials in the US increased dramatically. Thomas Ball’s Freedmen's Memorial to Abraham Lincoln (Emancipation Monument) completed in 1876 was one of the few statues dedicated to the emancipation of black slaves. This statue, located in Washington, D.C., “had to be both conservative and progressive; it had to commemorate an event – emancipation – that had not been fully realized in a manner acceptable to both abolitionists and former slave-owner” (Pohl). The daunting task of pleasing former slave owners seemed to be impossible, particularly because owning their “property” had been deemed immoral, so Ball solved the issue by commemorating emancipation “through the body of Abraham Lincoln” (Pohl). Subservience, still an overpowering factor in this memorial, Lincoln holds a scroll, the Emancipation Proclamation, while a former slave gazes at it adoringly, kneeling at the feet of his savior. The positioning of the two figures speaks loudly about the limits of emancipation during this era. Lincoln’s hand hovers above the former slave’s back as if to console him and advise him to rise because they were now theoretically equals. The figure of the black man, nearly nude, “comes to represent the less civilized, less human contrast” (Pohl) to the godly Lincoln. While the monument claims to celebrate emancipation, the figures actually negate the freedom it supposedly supports, a clear indicator for the trial to come for all freed African Americans.
Truly phenomenal sculptures and monuments, especially memorials, invoke a sense of nationalism and compassion, a challenge for the viewer to comprehend the turmoil which would cause a certain individual or moment in history to be permanently captured. A change in immigration contributed considerably to the gradual introduction of sculpture to the American landscape, and without that influx, the genres available would have remained severely limited. The plight of African Americans proved a major concern for the North, and black artists strove to take advantage of the Northerners’ emotions, as drawing more attention to their situation hopefully would result with a unified effort for their freedom. Even though emancipation was decreed, in reality, it really was only on paper; for decades upon decades after the Civil war ended, no amount of art could persuade the entirety of the public to see African Americans as equals.
Works Cited
Ball, Thomas. Freedmen's Memorial to Abraham Lincoln (Emancipation Monument). 1876. Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002. 221. Print.
Pohl, Frances K. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2002. Print.
Rogers, John. Slave Auction. 1859. The New York Historical Society, New York City. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002. 202. Print.
Throughout European history, sculptures played a vital role in the expression and evolution of art; as many colonial immigrants traveled from Britain where sculpture was a less popular genre of art, it can be assumed that painting and portraiture were the dominant factors in colonial-era British society, which of course filtered into American art. As the countries of origin for immigrants shifted, from Western to Southern and Eastern Europe, the artistic styles they brought with them promoted a diverse range of exploration which resulted with the eclectic pattern of nineteenth and early twentieth century art.
With industrialization at its peak, art was introduced to the concept of mass production. One of the first items to reach factories were small figurines often made of plaster, available for purchase for the home. While a majority of these figurines were simply for aesthetic appeal, John Rogers’s Slave Auction conveyed a vastly different connotation. In this piece, a white auctioneer dominates the bidding of a slave family below the podium; “the male slave assumes an angry and aggressive stance [while] the woman cradles one child in her arms while another hides behind her skirt” (Pohl), a clear indication not only of the lack of dignity and respect toward African Americans but also that such treatment will no longer be tolerated. Even the artist commented “that none of the stores will receive [my piece] to sell for fear of offending their southern customers” (Pohl). As art always reflects the mood of the era, Slave Auction accurately depicts the lessening tolerance from African Americans towards their treatment and foreshadows the bloody violence of the Civil War.
Public monuments have existed for centuries but have mostly been confined to Europe once again. However, especially after the Civil War the number of memorials in the US increased dramatically. Thomas Ball’s Freedmen's Memorial to Abraham Lincoln (Emancipation Monument) completed in 1876 was one of the few statues dedicated to the emancipation of black slaves. This statue, located in Washington, D.C., “had to be both conservative and progressive; it had to commemorate an event – emancipation – that had not been fully realized in a manner acceptable to both abolitionists and former slave-owner” (Pohl). The daunting task of pleasing former slave owners seemed to be impossible, particularly because owning their “property” had been deemed immoral, so Ball solved the issue by commemorating emancipation “through the body of Abraham Lincoln” (Pohl). Subservience, still an overpowering factor in this memorial, Lincoln holds a scroll, the Emancipation Proclamation, while a former slave gazes at it adoringly, kneeling at the feet of his savior. The positioning of the two figures speaks loudly about the limits of emancipation during this era. Lincoln’s hand hovers above the former slave’s back as if to console him and advise him to rise because they were now theoretically equals. The figure of the black man, nearly nude, “comes to represent the less civilized, less human contrast” (Pohl) to the godly Lincoln. While the monument claims to celebrate emancipation, the figures actually negate the freedom it supposedly supports, a clear indicator for the trial to come for all freed African Americans.
Truly phenomenal sculptures and monuments, especially memorials, invoke a sense of nationalism and compassion, a challenge for the viewer to comprehend the turmoil which would cause a certain individual or moment in history to be permanently captured. A change in immigration contributed considerably to the gradual introduction of sculpture to the American landscape, and without that influx, the genres available would have remained severely limited. The plight of African Americans proved a major concern for the North, and black artists strove to take advantage of the Northerners’ emotions, as drawing more attention to their situation hopefully would result with a unified effort for their freedom. Even though emancipation was decreed, in reality, it really was only on paper; for decades upon decades after the Civil war ended, no amount of art could persuade the entirety of the public to see African Americans as equals.
Works Cited
Ball, Thomas. Freedmen's Memorial to Abraham Lincoln (Emancipation Monument). 1876. Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002. 221. Print.
Pohl, Frances K. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2002. Print.
Rogers, John. Slave Auction. 1859. The New York Historical Society, New York City. Framing America: A Social History of American Art. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2002. 202. Print.