Abstract
This article addresses issues of blackness, slavery and representation in relation to a bust by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux in the collection of Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. The bust is among the most important and reproduced images of a black woman in 19th-century Western art history. It is ambiguous in its representation and has a complex reception history. The sculpture negotiates between allegorical and ethnographic idioms, antislavery sentiments and colonialist doctrines – embodying many contradictions of its time. This article argues that the bust is an important work to consider in the current museological debate on museums’ approaches to titles of artworks featuring subjects of African descent. However, uncovering the work's history only complicates the search for a title that captures its complexities.
Originalsprog | Dansk |
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Tidsskrift | Periskop |
Sider (fra-til) | 156-169 |
ISSN | 0908-6919 |
Status | Udgivet - 21 aug. 2021 |