Retrieving Lost Identities: The Black Figure in Art, Past and Present

One of the most urgent and compelling topics shaping the art world today is the pictorial representation of the black figure— a complex and highly charged subject whose dynamics extend far beyond the studio, gallery, and classroom. Long overlooked or downplayed, this field of representation is now being studied and developed in ways that transform our understanding of the artistic landscape, both past and present. This panel explores the black presence from the 19th century to modern and contemporary art and notions of power, agency, beauty, and identity. The discussion emanates from the exhibition Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today currently on view at the Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University.


Panel:
Frances Beatty, Chairman, Adler Beatty

Alison Hokanson, Assistant Curator, European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Denise Murrell, Curator, Posing Modernity exhibition, Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University


Moderator:

Marc Pachter, Director Emeritus, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution