Negro Life at the South
E13329
"Negro Life at the South" is an 1859 genre painting by American artist Eastman Johnson that depicts the everyday lives of enslaved African Americans in a Washington, D.C. backyard, offering a complex, nuanced view of slavery on the eve of the Civil War.
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
genre painting
ⓘ
painting ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | Old Kentucky Home ⓘ |
| artHistoricalContext |
Antebellum period
ⓘ
surface form:
antebellum United States
pre–American Civil War period ⓘ |
| colorUsage | contrasting light and shadow ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| creator | Eastman Johnson ⓘ |
| creatorNationality | American ⓘ |
| depicts |
African American family life
ⓘ
Washington, D.C. backyard ⓘ backyard scene ⓘ children playing ⓘ courtship ⓘ dilapidated slave quarters ⓘ domestic life ⓘ enslaved African Americans ⓘ everyday life of enslaved people ⓘ music and dance ⓘ |
| depictsEthnicGroup |
Black Americans
ⓘ
surface form:
African Americans
|
| depictsSocialClass | enslaved people ⓘ |
| depictsSocialIssue |
race relations in the United States
ⓘ
slavery ⓘ |
| genre |
genre painting
ⓘ
social commentary art ⓘ |
| hasPart |
brick wall backdrop
ⓘ
cat on rooftop ⓘ children in foreground ⓘ dilapidated wooden structures ⓘ group of African American figures ⓘ laundry hanging ⓘ musician with banjo ⓘ vegetation in yard ⓘ white woman observing from doorway ⓘ young couple courting ⓘ |
| inception | 1859 ⓘ |
| languageOfTitle | English ⓘ |
| locationOfSetting | Washington, D.C. ⓘ |
| mainSubject |
African American life before the American Civil War
ⓘ
slavery in the United States ⓘ |
| movement |
Realism
ⓘ
surface form:
American realism
genre painting tradition ⓘ |
| narrativeFocus |
complex view of slavery
ⓘ
everyday resilience under oppression ⓘ racial and social boundaries ⓘ |
| significantFor |
nuanced representation of enslaved African Americans
ⓘ
role in American art debates on slavery ⓘ visual commentary on slavery ⓘ |
| timePeriodDepicted | eve of the American Civil War ⓘ |
Referenced by (5)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Eastman Johnson