The Octoroon Girl
E270997
The Octoroon Girl is a 1925 oil painting by African American artist Archibald Motley that portrays a light-skinned Black woman and explores themes of race, identity, and colorism in early 20th-century America.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| The Octoroon Girl canonical | 2 |
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
oil painting
ⓘ
painting ⓘ work of art ⓘ |
| artHistoricalContext |
African American modernism
ⓘ
Chicago Black Renaissance ⓘ |
| colorUsage | emphasis on skin tone contrast ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | United States of America ⓘ |
| creator | Archibald Motley ⓘ |
| creatorEthnicity |
Black Americans
ⓘ
surface form:
African American
|
| creatorFullName |
Archibald Motley
ⓘ
surface form:
Archibald John Motley Jr.
|
| creatorGender | male ⓘ |
| creatorNationality | American ⓘ |
| culturalContext |
post–World War I America
ⓘ
segregated United States ⓘ |
| dateOfCreation | 1925 ⓘ |
| depicts |
African American woman
ⓘ
light-skinned Black woman ⓘ octoroon woman ⓘ |
| depictsEthnicGroup |
Black Americans
ⓘ
surface form:
African Americans
|
| genre | portrait painting ⓘ |
| hasType |
figurative painting
ⓘ
single-figure portrait ⓘ |
| inception | 1925 ⓘ |
| languageOfTitle | English ⓘ |
| mainSubject |
African American experience
ⓘ
colorism ⓘ passing ⓘ race ⓘ racial identity ⓘ |
| medium |
canvas
ⓘ
oil paint ⓘ |
| movement |
Harlem Renaissance
ⓘ
surface form:
Harlem Renaissance era
New Negro era art ⓘ |
| notableFor |
engagement with ideas of racial passing
ⓘ
exploration of colorism in African American life ⓘ portrayal of a woman of mixed African and European ancestry ⓘ |
| partOf | Archibald Motley’s early career works ⓘ |
| portrays |
fashionable sitter
ⓘ
young woman ⓘ |
| setInPeriod | early 20th-century America ⓘ |
| technique | oil on canvas ⓘ |
| theme |
Jim Crow era racial politics
ⓘ
beauty standards ⓘ gender and race ⓘ mixed-race identity ⓘ racial hierarchy ⓘ social construction of race ⓘ |
| title | The Octoroon Girl self-link ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.