Discussion Post Week 8

While I was reading Introduction: Global art history and the Netherlands, I found that there is a painting with a black figure called Still Life with a Moor. And in Claudia Swan’s presentation on Dutch art this Friday, she introduced the black figures in Dutch art. In Claudia Swan’s presentation, she said that black figures in Dutch art are usually crucial and invisible, which I would agree with. We have seen many paintings in Claudia Swan’s presentation. One painting has a white lady as the main figure and two black servants in the background. One connection I could draw from both of the paintings would be the idea of how invisible they are in the painting. In Still Life with a Moor, although the black figure is the character and the only character in the painting, he is still almost assimilated into the background. If you do not pay attention to the painting, you will not find him. Similar things happened in the painting I saw in the presentation. The only different thing was the main figure of the painting is the white noble lady. I would say that the way they depict African American figures during that time is worth noticing. There are countless numbers of black people who were involved in the production of these arts, but people are no longer able to identify the names of these figures. The only names people would know will probably be the names of their “owners.”
Another thing I found interesting in the presentation would be their clothing and the decorations. During that time, people tend to use shells to depict how rich the figure is or a representation of nobility. I loved to hear about how these shells were brought and sold by people who worked on the ships. When we were looking at the paintings during that time, we can always find shells as decorations for houses and churches.