Uploaded August 2021 | Updated September 2026, 13 hours ago
Richard J. Powell focuses on Thomas Eakins as uniquely empathetic among the many 19th-century artists who depicted African American performance and entertainment. Eakins' "Negro Boy Dancing" shows a young banjo player, an elderly teacher, and an adolescent dancer, evoking the American rage for the form of musical theater known as minstrelsy. Eakins' watercolor, along with two oil-on-board studies at the National Gallery of Art, challenged the tendency of minstrelsy to employ racial ridicule and physical exaggeration. Instead, Powell argues, Eakins adhered to a painterly realism as well as his own brand of empathy and ethics.
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Established in 2003, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art lectures, conferences, and symposia are biennial programs hosted by the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, and supported by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. Participants are chosen on the basis of their outstanding contributions to the study of and scholarship on American art.
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Richard J. Powell focuses on Thomas Eakins as uniquely empathetic among the many 19th-century artists who depicted African American performance and entertainment. Eakins' "Negro Boy Dancing" shows a young banjo player, an elderly teacher, and an adolescent dancer, evoking the American rage for the form of musical theater known as minstrelsy. Eakins' watercolor, along with two oil-on-board studies at the National Gallery of Art, challenged the tendency of minstrelsy to employ racial ridicule and physical exaggeration. Instead, Powell argues, Eakins adhered to a painterly realism as well as his own brand of empathy and ethics.
Join our mailing list! Email: TheCenter@nga.gov
Established in 2003, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art lectures, conferences, and symposia are biennial programs hosted by the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, and supported by the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. Participants are chosen on the basis of their outstanding contributions to the study of and scholarship on American art.
Still haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channels?
National Gallery of Art ►►youtube.com/NationalGalleryofArtUS
National Gallery of Art Talks ►►youtube.com/NationalGalleryofArtTalks
ABOUT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.
More National Gallery of Art Content:
Facebook: facebook.com/nationalgalleryofart
Twitter: twitter.com/ngadc
Instagram: instagram.com/ngadc
Pinterest: pinterest.com/ngadc/_created
E-News: nga.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=e894a1837aca4526f7e8a11b3&id=2085ff9475
#Art
#Museum
#NationalGalleryOfArt
#Wyeth
#AmericanArt
#WyethFoundationForAmericanArt
#TheCenter
