Day 415 -


 May 1, 2025

The works on display in Gallery 638 represent not a country or a time period  - the artists are Dutch, French, Anglo-Irish, German, and American; the works range in date from 1665 to 2014 - but a theme. The introductory wall sign is entitled "The Artist's Studio.," and in general, the paintings show artists at work; either they are self-portraits or portraits painted by their friends. Since a couple of the paintings depict  artists in their living quarters rather than specifically in their studios, I might opt for a somewhat more inclusive label - say, “Artists and the Act of Creation" -  but I realize that’s a quibble.

Today's work is one that dominates the gallery,  Kerry James Marshall’s enormous painting (perhaps 13 feet wide and 8 feet high), which bears the name  “Untitled (Studio).” (Since it’s quite obviously. a studio, I have no idea where the “Untitled” comes from.) Painted in 2014 using acrylics on PVC boards, it stands out for any number of reasons: its size, its vibrant colors, and the fact that the people in the scene are all Black - and dark-skinned to boot.

The painting seems to be the work of the day for more than me personally. While I’m in the gallery, I’m joined by three different tour groups: a regular Met group of adult visitors, a group of Italians with an Italian -speaking docent, and a group of schoolkids who appear to be about 11 or 12. The docents have pretty much the same things to say about the painting; all of them emphasize Marshall’s desire to include Black people, who have largely been excluded from Western art, as legitimate subjects for artistic endeavor.

I see something else: Marshall’s desire to include himself as a legitimate heir of the Western artistic tradition. The painting contains any number of references to that tradition. Thus, the male nude in the background stadnging in a contrapposto position. The suggestion of a landscape through the rear window. The vase with flowers and the skull on the table, evincing Marshall's familiarity with still-life and memento mori tropes. Even the bright yellow dog under that table. Marshall is asserting that he is not rejecting traditional Western art but expanding its scope to include people of color.  The sign identifying the work describes it as "a majestic ode to the work of the artist, the history of painting, and the multiple possibilities that pulse through the heart of its practice." I'm not sure what that last bit means, but I fully agree with the first part of the sentence.

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