Winslow Homer: "Dressing for the Carnival".
"Dressing for the Carnival" by Winslow Homer was painted in the 1870's and captured political, cultural, and artistic events of the day. It was painted at the time Homer was switching from idyllic and fashionable subjects to deeper, darker themes. Since this painting was painted during the Civil War period, Homer did not see his black subjects as individuals. He saw them as types. "Dressing for the Carnival" was seen as the best character painting of it's type that had yet been produced. Homer seemed to truly capture the essence of the black people of the day.
"Dressing for the Carnival" was like a symbolization of black culture during the Civil War era. Blacks were seen as servants, even if they were free, entertainers, and sub-human. A quote in the article even goes so far as to compare blacks to gorillas. Blacks were treatly unfairly, depicted falsely in paintings, and generally not respected. .
"Dressing for the Carnival" not only tries to capture black culture, it also embraces a little European culture. The black man getting dressed appears to be similar to the sad clowns which were commonly painted in Europe. Therefore, both black and European cultures had influences in Homer's painting. Throughout the article, the importance of educating black people is also represented in paintings. Black children are shown learning in schools, and black women are even shown teaching these black children. .
"Dressing for the Carnival" captures an era in American history that everyone would rather just forget. Slavery had forever changed Black America, and the subsequent days after slavery ended made this change for the better. However, even though slavery and the treatment of black people even after being emancipated was terrible, Homer seems to capture the beauty of black culture at this time with his characterization. Homer shows that the spirit of black people cannot be crushed.