Synopses & Reviews
Examining portraits of black people over the past two centuries,
Cutting a Figure argues that these images should be viewed as a distinct category of portraiture that differs significantly from depictions of people with other racial and ethnic backgrounds. The difference, Richard Powell contends, lies in the social capital that stems directly from the black subjectand#8217;s power to subvert dominant racist representations by evincing such traits as self-composure, self-adornment, and self-imagining.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Powell forcefully supports this argument with evidence drawn from a survey of nineteenth-century portraits, in-depth case studies of the postwar fashion model Donyale Luna and the contemporary portraitist Barkley L. Hendricks, and insightful analyses of images created since the late 1970s. Along the way, he discusses major artistsand#8212;such as Frand#233;dand#233;ric Bazille, John Singer Sargent, James Van Der Zee, and David Hammonsand#8212;alongside such overlooked producers of black visual culture as the Tonka and Nike corporations. Combining previously unpublished images with scrupulous archival research, Cutting a Figure illuminates the ideological nature of the genre and the centrality of race and cultural identity in understanding modern and contemporary portraiture.
Review
and#8220;A significant study based on truly original research. Richard Powell presents a critical assessment and exploration of the portrait as both object and subject of art and fashion. One of the many important aspects of Powelland#8217;s book is his reinterpretation of the different ways the black body is represented within the context of the observer and the observed. By focusing on such representations within and outside the boundaries of art, Powell offers a conceptual exploration of agency and resistance as he questions the existing historiography.
Cutting a Figure will make a significant mark in the fields of American art history, fashion, visual culture, American studies, photography, and African American studies.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;This is the first study I have seen that explores the complex subjectivities available in contemporary black portraiture in such breadth and depth. Richard Powell tellingly explores the production and criticism of widely known artists as well as fascinating examples from popular culture. His style and powerful facility with words at once illuminate his argument and enliven the subtle and spectacular methods of the artists whose work he unfurls.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Richard Powell has been at the forefront of the study of African American art for more than two decades, and in
Cutting a Figure he makes a characteristically provocative case for the centrality of black representation and identity in the larger genre of portraiture. Featuring exciting new interpretations of the portraitist Barkley L. Hendricks and the fashion model Donyale Luna, as well as fresh insights about images ranging from the renowned to the rarely discussed,
Cutting a Figure represents the work of a highly original scholar at the peak of his powers.and#8221;
About the Author
Richard J. Powell is the John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art and Art History at Duke University.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Preface
and#160;
Introductionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Posing While Black
Oneand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Interlocutors
Twoand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Luna Obscura
Threeand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Barkley L. Hendricksand#8217;s Afro-Shrine
Fourand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; The New Black Portraiture
Conclusionand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Beyond the Bodies of Evidence
Notes
Bibliography
Index