Matisse to modernity: the evolution of black female models in art

In 1863, the French artist Édouard Manet painted Olympia, a reclining nude prostitute, shedding a scandalous light on Parisian brothel culture. But while much of the attention has been on the white model in the painting, Victorine Meurent, the black model beside her, Laure, has been largely overlooked by art historians.

"People have told me, ‘It’s not that I didn’t see the black maid in the painting, I just didn’t know what to say about her’," said the curator Denise Murrell. "I always felt she is presented in a more stronger light than maids usually are, and I wondered what could be said about her, even though art history said very little."

From photography to painting and sculpture, as well as film and print correspondence, this exhibit traces how the black figure has been key to the development of modern art over the past 150 years. Many of the artists here bring to light much of what art history has ignored.

"I’m looking for angles that are more relevant than just the standard narrative of the art world," said Murrell. "I’m giving a number of different narratives that can be discussed around the black figure; there is a wider variety of black models, especially the black female figure, in broader, social roles."


"It shows the historical weight and significance of what Harlem artists were doing at the time," said Murrell. "African American slavery or enslaved individuals were stereotyped and caricatured, and one thing Harlem Renaissance artists wanted to do was give dignity to black female figures, or to black figures, period."

The other Harlem Renaissance painters in the exhibit include William H Johnson, who captured the everyday lives of African Americans, whether it was groups of friends in urban settings to rural families, all of which tell "the critical story of modern portrayals of black figures", said Murrell.

The more recent artworks in the exhibit, made over the past 50 years, are different from those, say, 100 years ago. "It’s more empowered because we now have a presence, artists of color," she said. "You have black portraits by black artists, which broadens the range of artistic styles and strategies."