STILLNESS OF THE LAND AND SEA
From May 14 to June 29, 2024, the Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba is pleased to present STILLNESS OF THE LAND AND SEA, an exhibition of 19thand 20th century artists that features 48 landscape and still life paintings from the collection of Kenkeleba Gallery.
The artists are Charles Alston (1907-1977), Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828-1901), Robert Blackburn (1920-2003), Victor Bloise, (b. 1971), Grafton Tyler Brown (1841-1918), Pauline Powell Burns (1872-1912), William Sylvester Carter (1909-1996), Allan R. Crite (1910-2007), Arthur Coppedge (1938-2010), Beauford Delaney (1901-1979), Frank J. Dillon (1865-1954), Robert Seldon Duncanson (1821-1872), John Wesley Hardrick (1891-1968), Carl E. Hazlewood (b. 1951), Humbert Howard (1905-1990), Mary Howard Jennings (1908-2011), Wilmer A. Jennings (1910-1990), William H. Johnson (1901-1970), Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998), Yolene Legrand (b. 1948), Norman Lewis (1909-1979), Henry Linton (b.1944), Alvin D. Loving (1935-2005), Richard Mayhew (b. 1924), Charles Ethan Porter (1847-1923), James Amos Porter (1905-1970), Ellis Wilson (1899-1977) and Hale Woodruff (1900-1980).
Whether plein air studies, large studio paintings or still lifes, subtle narratives penetrate and tell stories of personal and cultural memories. Often, while not overt political narratives, many of the works speak to politics and racial subtexts. Bannister’s visually turbulent oil painting, Raging Surf (1888), where he has created tension with the forceful movement of the water and rock images, deals with slavery. Many artists immortalize places of significance during slavery and the period following the Civil War. Lois Mailou Jones’ Menemsha Shacks, Martha’s Vineyard pays homage to the fishing village that provided refuge to slaves escaping the south, and Carl Hazlewood’s Demerara Dark River references the role of sugar in 16th century Guyana and the bloody Demerara Slave Rebellion, one of many revolts erupting in the Caribbean in the first decades of the 19th century.
Richard Mayhew, an artist of the 20th century, is celebrated for the tonal subtlety of his lyrical and intimate landscapes. His Vallamont (1983) memorializes the site in Pennsylvania where the Lenape Indians first fought European settlers. Aerial views of Henry Linton’s Untitled Arkansas landscapes reflect, in rich, dense color, upon the history of the 1866 lynchings at Pine Bluffs.
We learn a great deal about Black American society from the common objects in still life paintings. Unlike the landscape, still lifes need to be arranged. In C.E. Porter’s Apples, the harvested fruit is spread across the top of a plain wooden table in preparation. By comparison, Mary Howard Jennings has added a sense of movement, energy and hospitality in her enchanting Still Life with Pitcher and Fruit (c. 1970s). Child prodigy painter and pianist Pauline Powell Burns, who exhibited her first paintings at age 18, is represented by an elegant, opulent display of fruit with pear in Still Life with Fruits (c. 1890). At the age of fourteen, child prodigy Alan Crite’s painting Untitled Still Life (1974) was painted on Thanksgiving Day, 1924. The overripe fruit platter of pear, bananas and apples is perhaps an indication of the meager meal for which the family is thankful. The curved shape of the pear and seeds is reminiscent of the human body and represents fertility and growth, and the banana references the shortage of the tropical fruit, a devastated crop in the 1920s. Charles Alston’s watercolor, Study for Magic and Medicinereveals the medicinal as well as symbolic use of plants.
Flowers, like the Peony are often symbolic of love and honor, and the exquisite clusters of Peonies with their spectacular blooms and lush dark green foliage are captured by both Porter (Peonies) and W.S. Carter (Still Life) with softly brushed lines and delicate hues of magenta, pinks and white. In Ellis Wilson’s White Lilacs(c. 1949), which represent purity and innocence, the artist plays with the irony of the motionless bouquet, emptied of detail, set against a purple background.
The interior meaning and historicity of these beautiful paintings encourages contemplation that affords insight.
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm
Location: 219 East Second Street at Avenue B
Kenkeleba programs are funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Ruth Foundation and many generous friends.
