An Allohistory of Art

My upcoming series, the Color of Beauty aims to bring attention to a relatively simple question: where can one find people of color in art?

To illustrate the point, let's examine the depiction of Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess, who in Western art has been a subject of neglect and misrepresentation throughout history. Despite references to her dark skin in Greek mythographic texts, such as Ovid, artists have frequently omitted to depict her blackness and instead portrayed her as a white woman. This is due to the Eurocentric bias in the art world, where the notion of blackness and beauty being dichotomous was prevalent. The Renaissance art, for example, repeatedly depicts Andromeda as white. The debate about her skin color, which seems racist to modern eyes, was even active during that time.

Black Andromedas were rare, and images such as Picart's print (1731) of Perseus and Andromeda by van Diepenbeeck (1655) show a woman with dark skin but stereotypical white features and hair. This whitewashing of black figures in art was not limited to Andromeda and was prefigured by the Renaissance Europe's sexualization and whitewashing of the Queen of Sheba, who declared in the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament, "I am black and beautiful."

During the late 15th century, European focus shifted towards the exoticism of the eastern and western coasts of Africa, leading to depictions of people of color that exemplified this interest in the foreign and unknown people of the continent. The norm of whiteness set against dark skin functioned as a visible marker of social difference, diminishing the people of color into an identity of the "other." This can be seen in paintings like Manet's, where the dark skin of the Black woman served to diminish her into an identity of the "other."

Titian’s Diana and Actaeon is an example of a European Renaissance fantasy that perpetuated these biases, as it confined people of color to a space of visual and functional servitude to white beauty. This serves as a symbol for the Renaissance understanding of the role of people of color in European society and reflects a long history of their femininity being contrasted with and relegated by white femininity in visual culture.

The white female nude has been a recurring subject in art across cultures and time, dating back to antiquity. However, the representation of nudes of people of color is vastly underrepresented in the history of Western art. Historically, the Western canon of art has been dominated by white artists who often portrayed people of color as exotic and sexualized objects instead of treating them with dignity and respect. This lack of representation in nude art has perpetuated harmful stereotypes and cultural biases, as well as contributed to the marginalization and erasure of people of color in the art world. This limited representation is not only a result of the artists who created the works, but also reflects the larger picture of how women of color have been and continue to be viewed in art.

Denise Murrell, in her book and exhibition catalog Posing Modernity, refers to the lack of attention given to Black female figures in art as a "deeper blindness...in art history." This refers to the failure to recognize how representations of women of color have been foundational to the development of modern art. Works such as Manet’s Olympia (1863) and Gérôme’s The Great Bath at Bursa (1885) depict white female nudes while placing people of color in secondary, fully clothed roles. This perpetuates the notion that people of color are inappropriate for nudity and aesthetically inferior.

However, in recent years, there has been a growing movement to challenge these cultural biases and to celebrate and depict a more diverse range of perspectives and experiences in art. One notable example is Dr. Denise Murrell's exhibition, "Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today," which focused on the models' lives, networks, and contributions to the development of European and American art. Another exhibition, "Black Male: Representations of Masculinity in Contemporary Art," offered a similar examination of gendered representation in art.

The series "The Color of Beauty" follows in the footsteps of these exhibitions, with a focus on people of color as the central subject. It highlights the importance of representation of all races in the visual arts and brings overlooked perspectives to the forefront. By reimagining the classic portraits and nudes of old masters from the Renaissance, Baroque and Romanticism periods with people of color as the primary subject, this series sheds light on thie stark absence as subjects in the Western art canon, highlights the beauty and diversity of people of color, offering a new perspective on classical art and correcting the historical erasure of darker bodies in the art world. By showcasing people of color in prominent and powerful positions, the series offers an allohistory of Western art.

This article is based on the works of J. Walls, N. McGreevy, R. Cerbarano, S.S. Galer, archives of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and The Representation Project. These experts have provided valuable insights and research on the topic of representation in western art and the omission of people of color as subjects in the canon. Their exiting works have played a crucial role in shaping the content of this article and highlighting the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the art world.