Jennifer Germann and colleagues Dr. Mia L. Bagneris (Tulane University) and Dr. Jennifer Van Horn (University of Delaware) wrote essays for the "Perspectives" series for American Art, published by the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. Each author explores a different aspect of Edward Savage's portrait of George and Martha Washington, their grandchildren, and an enslaved attendant, who was modeled on a free Black man. Germann's essay, '“The Requisite Local Coloring”: Painting The Washington Family in London', uncovers the hidden history of the painting’s initial creation in London. She explores Savage’s choice of the enslaved attendant portrait format and his selection of free Black model John Riley, amidst the uncertainty surrounding the portrayal of Black figures in the 1780s and 1790s in Great Britain. She elucidates how disremembering has obscured John Riley and Sidney Riley, as well as historical Black subjects in American art more broadly. The three essays can be found at: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/amart/current
Jennifer Germann (Art History and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) publishes article in American Art.
By Pearl Ponce, December 15, 2021