The janitor who paints analysis

African American Art

Establishing the African-American history through art.

Lanxiang Wang

Professor:Tienfong Ho

Apr 23, 2015

Key Artist: Palmer Hayden

Title: The Janitor Who Paints ca. 1930

Smithsonian Museum Harmon Foundation 1967.57.28 Smithsonian American Art Museum Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 34B

Working Thesis

How can the order of events in the history African-Americans be established through famous works of art?

General Objective

This project aims at collecting works of art by famous artists and identifies the important events in the history of African-Americans during the slavery.

Specific Objectives

· To determine other works of art by the same artist of the chosen work of art.

· To learn the criticism/theory against the chosen work of art.

Background

The Janitor Who Paints was created around 1930. The piece was an “a protest painting" of the artist’s social and economic standing (Holley 97). The artwork was inspired by one of Hayden’s friend, Cloyd Boykin. Despite his artistic works, no one called Cloyd an artist rather he was called the janitor. Details such as those of the cramped apartment, the trashcan, the duster, are symbols of the janitor’s profession. The figures including the beret and dapper clothes in the painting point to Cloyd’s artistic pursuits.

The use of perspective by Hayden was attributed to the modern art practices, which favored simplified and abstraction forms. The original facial features of the artwork were exaggerated and many critics came out against the painting. He however, altered the picture to divert its initial appearance of African American caricature. Hayden maintained the janitor since it was a representative of the larger civil rights within the community of the African Americans.

Hayden’s artwork has long confused many African American art students. At my first encounter with the artwork, I took them as relative portraits of a flattering woman, child, and a black painter. Initially, the canvas contained the Jim Crow caricature inflammatory characteristics and garnish. The piece has been criticized by some contemporary scholars over the internalization of the prevailing stereotypes that have been recycled uncritically and related to the Hayden’s paintings. The paintings that entail the masks of minstrels are portrayed of the blacks by the artist (Weber 234). In fact, Hayden’s work shows efforts in artwork by the blacks in entertaining their audience, the Whites. “The Janitor Who Paints” illustrates the racism of the dominant culture by then. The perpetuation of racism has made the artist famous in the art history of the African American. The title of the work speaks a lot in the social protest about the happenings by then.

Hayden’s artwork comprises of a variety of elements that have meanings attached to them. For instance, the canvas in the painting illustrates on the stereotyping of the African American artists by the institutional patrons of the Harmon Foundation. The picture ultimately serves as a satiric commentary on Hayden’s packaging by art critics and white patrons of the Harmonic Foundation. In addition, the painting shrewdly participated in debates involving the African American esthetics.

Formal analysis

The original version of “The Janitor Who Paints” shows janitor painting, a woman’s portrait and that of a small child. All the three have thick lips. The janitor has vast hands, maybe indicating the janitor works with his hands with very thick painting (Lyndon 201). In terms of location, the woman sits on the left-hand side of the painter together with the big infant baby. To the far end of the woman, there is the clock while on the floor in front of the artist lies the cat. The texture of the painting is also smooth showing how real the work of art is presented. In the background, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln hangs. In addition, his head is bald and comes to a point.

The Janitor Who Paints operates as both rebellion against and parody of the racial attitudes. The bare light bulb, central character’s large hands and the cramped space, all manifest Hayden’s descriptions in some of the newspapers.“In the gloom of the tiny room”, Hayden wears orange-colored smock that makes him appear more gigantic than his real size. The significant size of the painting makes one feel reality standing before the artwork.

The light supplied by the oil lamp simulating the natural light has an impact on the real image and size of the artist in the painting. The gigantic size is attributed to by the lighting from the oil lamp. Also, there is the camel-hair brush in Hayden’s fingers which look smaller compared to a toothpick. One needs to move around at every possible angle in order to have a clear view rather than standing at one particular position. The change in position allows one to consider every aspect of the painting. A recall of the shots from Negro artists is also taken care of by the painter’s oversized hands. Close to the center of the canvas, there is the prominent clock that emphasizes on the artist’s work as an activity of spare time (Holley 104). The janitor’s figure had started to regain big political resonance among the African communities.

African American janitor represented the few opportunities in the isolated society. In other studies, the custodian articulates the biting social protest. For instance, in more political campaign propaganda, the American Gothic, Parks conceals the issue of unskilled black labor. Ironically, the patriotic iconography covers the issue of unskilled labor. Likewise to the oversize hands in the painting, the iconography has an oversize flag. In addition, the theme contains the stage lighting, formal portrait pose, and allusions that are typical canvas (Lyndon 193). The piece criticizes the subordination of the rural blacks who have just migrated to the urban centers.

In the painting, the protagonist holds two brushes on the left hand. The appearance rhymes with the duster and broom on the wall behind the artist. In the foreground, a large trashcan lid and the palette mirrors dart towards the viewer. The high visual parallels repeat back editing styles of the Study of Negro Artists. A Later Version of Janitor supersedes the above satiric elements with information that directly rejects stereotypes period about the black painters.

The beret and dapper clothes that Hayden also wore is an attribute of an accomplished artist. For instance, an artist like Hayden, who had traveled abroad, the beret, was used for publicity to show that he is a cosmopolitan. The neckties in the painting, distances unskilled labor from the black artists. In addition, the dapper clothes and the beret identify the black artist with his work.

Hayden cleverly identifies the Harmon Foundation for prolonging the stereotypes as shown in the painting. The Abraham Lincoln’s portrait on the wall behind, where the protagonist starts crucially takes Hayden’s canvas to be a ridicule of his benefactors (Austin 213). During the repainting of the picture, Hayden brings in the snoozing tabby to substitute the Great Emancipator. The substitution strongly suggests the Hayden’s conceptualization of the shocking appearances and Lincoln to be that of interdependent units.

By this pairing, the artist associates the white paternalism with the racist imagination. The motivations behind the connection to Lincoln become clearer on the publicity study on the Harmon Foundation. The Janitor’s brush connects stereotypes with the white paternalism. Therefore, by linking the Jim Crow stereotypes to presidential mascot’s foundation, Hayden shows the black dependence on the white paternalism.

Janitor reveals a pictorial, comparable dismissal of the esthetics in the various artistic works. In his other work, Hayden includes a Fang reliquary in Fétiche et Fleurs. The cranium of the object does not adhere to the conventional racist imagery contours. The sloping “lowbrows” mean limited intelligence. Hayden endows his painting with a bulbous, swollen head which creates the unfamiliar choice in appearance. Just like in the Fétiche et Fleurs, Hayden caricatures his work with the similar egg-shaped skull (Berger 105). The two bald heads also share same heavy-lidded eyes, thin arched eyebrows and full, thick lips. The features are linked to the traditional stereotypes. The bonds between the Fétiche et Fleurs and unaltered Janitor go beyond mere craniology. In both works, the central heads occupy the similar zones in their respective canvases. The figures are also located in similar environmental conditions. Notably, the Janitor’s high table and the Fétiche et Fleurs’ wall bracket with the corresponding matching legs of the chair.

While revising the painting, Hayden attaches a longer chair back, removes the struts of the legs and spreads a bright red curtain on the writing table. Hayden shatters the Harmon Foundation for presenting him as a mere living African artifact and denigrating him as a janitor. In addition, on all the three subjects, the lips are made thinner. The beret and hair are also put on the janitor’s head. Hayden also changes the Lincoln’s portrait to that of a cat. On the issue of color, the presence of blacks in the painting would only be tolerated as janitors across the world. The value of Parks’ portrait is a complaint from the Hayden’s original canvas of the jolting caricatures. However, the painter only avoids endorsing and reproducing the dominant attitudes concerning the black artists using various visual tactics. Hayden absurdly exaggerates racist aspect and overstates the parody effect on the prevailing relationship between the manual labor and the black art.

Criticism

Scholars such as Du Bois, Porter and Locke criticized any artwork that reinforced and encouraged African-American stereotypes (Berger 103). As a positive approach to black identity, Porter argues against the stereotypical ideas of black artists. Most of the reviews and articles did not provide same treatment of the black artists as their fellow white contemporaries. Prior assumptions about primitivism, amateurism, racial uniqueness and authenticity adequately delimited the opportunities for black artists. The assumptions resulted in the creation of concrete expectations. The argument was that Negro art would be backward since Negro came from individuals and amateurs considered to be primitive due to their unfortunate racial heritage. Instead of praising Hayden’s modest background in his artwork, the scholars focused on Hayden’s experience and encountered in manual labor. Both critics and students brought in conflicting ideas on the Negro art. The criticism resulted to racism since it influenced how the black artists thought about themselves as artists.

The separate racial esthetic from the white mainstream established the background for discussing art and race during the period. Locke criticized the African-American work in particular Hayden’s. However, in 1930s, he later shifted to the significance of black artists in the larger national culture. The use of color in the seascapes and the presentation of the black-face minstrels are equally criticized. Apart from Porter, critics such as Rose Henderson referenced Hayden’s work in the caricature. In the review of 1934, for example, Rose Henderson failed to interpret figuration in “The Janitor, who Paints” (Angelou 57). Instead, the critic considered the figuration offensive. Afterward, Hayden changed the painting to a humorous watercolor from the famous Marines.

Conclusion

The research was helpful in answering the proposal question. The chronology of the long history African-Americans can be established through some of the famous works of arts. For instance, the edited version shows that man originally had a rounded, large head with distorted facial features. The woman is holding a smiling; large infant denotes a servant during the times. All the alterations were in response to the criticism of his paintings.

Bibliography

Angelou, Maya. A song flung up to heaven. London Virago 2003. Originally published: 2002. Print.

Berger, Mark B. Palmer Hayden: An American Painter. , 1990. Print.

Driskell, David. Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America: [exhibition]. New York: Abradale Press, Abrams, 1994. Print.

Flowers, A. R. I see the promised land. London: Tara, 2011. Print.

High Point: A Memoir of the African American Community. High Point, N.C.: Yalik's Modern Art, 2014.

Holley, Donald. The Second Great Emancipation: The Mechanical Cotton Picker, Black Migration, and How They Shaped the Modern South. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 2000. Print.

Lyndon, Dan. Black History. London: Franklin Watts, 2010. Print.

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father. New York, N.Y.?: Random House Audio, 2005. Sound recording.

Weber, Michael. Causes and Consequences of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Austin, Tex: RaintreeSteck-Vaughn, 1998. Print.

The Janitor Who Paintsca. 1930

Palmer Hayden.Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of the Harmon Foundation 1967.57.28 Smithsonian American Art Museum Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 34B

The Janitor Who Paints without light vs. The Janitor Who Paints with light

The Janitor Who Paints under light

The original version of the paintings with thick lips

Fétiche et Fleurs’ compared to The Janitor Who Paints viewed from a different angle.

The Janitor Who Paints inside a frame

Fétiche et Fleurs’ compared to The Janitor Who Paints viewed from a different angle.

The original version of the paintings with thick lips

The Janitor Who Paints without light vs. The Janitor Who Paints with light