Today we were finally visiting the Detroit Institute of Arts! We didn't know this before, but we quickly discovered that DIA is one of the largest and most significant museums in the United States. As a result, we were very excited to dig into our themes (and slightly overwhelmed!). At this museum, I was able to dig into not only the portrayal of colored people by white people, but I was also able to see how colored people depict themselves in art, so I am going to focus on that during this blog. One of the first art pieces that I saw at the museum was a painting of Cleopatra. However, the Egyptian ruler was unrecognizable, as she had been whitewashed, leaving her with pale skin and features that did not match those of an Egyptian woman. While this may not see like a major detail, it is actually a key point that points to how colored people were depicted. Cleopatra, a colored woman, being turned white to suit the standards of artists and the public at the time, shows the lack of power given to people of color. Whitewashing is a fairly common occurrence in art, and continues to happen to day in the film industry, when white actors take up the roles of non-white characters. The next art piece is an extremely modern and recent painting by Kehinde Wiley, an African American man, of a black man on a horse, depicting him with strength and power. All of Wiley's work depicts people of color greatly, and sheds a light on their true selves, unlike many other art pieces that we often seen in art history. So, I wanted to just put this piece in here, as I thought it was beautiful and spoke to the depictions of African Americans by African American artists. The last art piece I am going to touch on is a portrait of David Shoppenagons, a Native American chief, from 1910. In the portrait (painted by American Eanger Irving Couse), Chief Shoppenagons decided to wear traditional clothing that connected him and identified him with his ancestors. This depiction by a white man is a major part of looking into the depictions of Native Americans, as, unlike many other art pieces, Couse depicts this Native American man as standing tall, looking off into the distance, and standing alone, showing the endurance and continued strength of Native Americans. There are still many, many art works that I want to share at the Intensive Fair that really stood out to me. However, throughout these blogs, I have been able to pick out major themes from the museum, and pick out examples from the art pieces we have seen to support those themes, allowing me to lay out all of my ideas. Today has been my favorite day of our independent study so far, as I have been able to really dig deep into my theme, surrounded by exhibitions that solely pertained to what I was researching. Tomorrow, we are going to the Toledo Museum, which should also be productive and worthwhile.
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