Learning Slavery History

It is interesting how many artworks depict different time periods of slavery history in an art museum. Almost every major event has some type of art that commemorates it or shows the emotion of the slavery history event in a very palpable way. Going to an art museum can teach a visitor about key points of more than two centuries of oppression that African Americans had to suffer through in this country, and learning about what happened is very important for everyone, no matter your age, race, or gender. Below are some of the scenes of slavery history that were immortalized by giving them a place in an art museum.

1. The Slave Ship – Painted by J.M.W. Turner and first officially displayed, likely in an art museum, in 1840, The Slave Ship showed an essential part of slavery history that all slaves had to go through. The painting depicted the long journey over the Atlantic Ocean that had to be made by slave traders and slaves. Many of the people that were transported on this ship faced sickness or death during the long journey, and Turner’s painting showed the indifference toward human life shown by slave traders as they simply threw the sickly and deceased overboard.

2. Cattle Boy – Not all artworks showing slavery history are centuries old and hanging in an art museum somewhere. There are plenty of contemporary artists that choose to express themselves or their ancestral heritage by creating art that depicts slavery history. Cattle Boy is a painting that shows young African American boys working with cattle, as many young slaves did that type of work. This work was created by Teresa Harris, and you do not have to visit an art museum to see it. In fact, it is on sale right now if you would like to have a piece of slavery history to view for yourself.

3. Southern Plantation Slaves Being Freed – This was a drawing by Thomas Nast, a staunch supporter of both Abraham Lincoln and civil rights during the Civil War. He made several draws that depicted different aspects of slavery history, the war, and the emancipation of the slaves. This particular drawing shows Union soldiers freeing slaves from a plantation, and the gratitude that the newly freed African Americans felt. Viewing Thomas Nast originals does not take a trip to an art museum either, several of his drawings are on sale. Viewing all of his works side by side can really give you a good idea about slavery history. Hopefully the Nast collection will be displayed in an art museum at some point in the future.

These three works of art are nowhere near the total amount of paintings and drawings that depict slavery history. Find out more by researching these artists or visiting an art museum that contains slavery art exhibits, increasing your knowledge on these subjects can give you a better understanding about the pain that your fellow humans have suffered through.

Museum Exhibit

Most of the world participated in the slave trade at some point, that is a fact. Now, after slavery is no longer a part of the mainstream and illegal in almost every part of the world, all that is left to remind us about the struggle is art. That is why there has been a museum exhibit in several prominent galleries, making knowledge of the emotions and pain felt by slaves available to anybody that chooses to take a peek into their world. Whether the art was created by slaves, or a hundred years after by artists trying to remind people about these times, a museum exhibit is a great place to learn more about our history on this planet. Here are some of the places that have a museum exhibit that displays slavery art.

1. London, Sugar & Slavery – This is a museum exhibit located in London, England that examines London’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. It is a permanent museum exhibit that is meant to be thought provoking. The art that is displayed is located in a sugar warehouse setting and has inspired others to create art that is in the same vein as this museum exhibit. Their online web page includes more information about London, Sugar & Slavery and has maps that detail the city’s involvement in slavery.

2. Transatlantic Slave Gallery – This is yet another museum exhibit that could be found in England. It was a part of the Merseyside Maritime Museum, but is no longer running because of its popularity. The art that was found in the gallery became such a phenomenon that the museum exhibit actually helped form an entire museum. The new museum goes by the name of The International Slavery Museum. Now people are able to go through and view an entire building filled with art dealing with slavery all over the world.

3. Slavery in New York – Many people were under the impression that slavery only took place down south, but that was just not true. This museum exhibit shows that not only was there slavery in the north, but New York was actually a large hub for the slave trade. This gallery does not just have art either. There are legal documents, business transactions, and newspapers on display. Some of the pieces of art that are there for viewing are wire sculptures of settlers, recordings, and dramatizations of slave life.

Even though only the United States and England were mentioned here, there were slaves in nearly every country at some point in history. Viewing some of the art that came from the deep emotions of slavery is an experience that many do not soon forget. Find a museum in your local area that you can visit and learn more about our history, as well as how poorly some people were treated by others in the past.

The Slave Market

All over the world there has been artwork that deals with difficult subjects. Sometimes, when something is considered taboo or it is just too hard to open up lines of dialogue, artwork is used to express these thoughts and feelings. One example of depicting struggle is slavery art, which has been created by many cultures and countries that have had these tragic situations brought upon them. Slavery art comes in many forms, whether it is paintings, sculptures, pottery, or any other kind of art. Here is some of the artwork that has been created in the past by some of these cultures. Hopefully their slavery art helped them to better understand the times and served as a healing agent to them.

1. Bussa Emancipation Statue – This is a sculpture that is displayed publicly in Barbados. The artwork depicts a slave rebellion leader, although a specific person was not intended to be shown. Many residents of Barbados refer to the statue as Bussa because of a slave that helped start a revolution in the island-nation in 1816. The slavery art was sculpted by Karl broodhagen in 1985 to represent freedom and the breaking of chains. The artwork was created nearly 169 years after the revolution occurred, but the slavery art is still a very powerful symbol to not only Barbados residents, but to the entire world.

2. The Slave Market – This is a work of slavery art that was painted in the 19th century. The artwork depicts a Roman slave auction and shows just how disgusting these businesses were. Many people, young and old, male and female, are all lined up waiting to be sold to their new potential owners. Artist Gustave Boulanger painted this slavery art to give viewers the opportunity to feel the fear and shame that the people that were actually sold felt. It is believed that many of the people shown in this artwork were likely intended to be family members that were all forced to become slaves together.

3. The Slave Ship – Another painting that is considered to be slavery art, this shows the cruelty and indifference towards human life that was shown by those that sailed slave ships. The artwork depicts how dying and dead slaves would simply be tossed overboard into the ocean so that the problem was no longer theirs to worry about. This type of slavery art makes you wonder if the people that ran these slave ships felt emotion at all. The artwork was created by J.M.W. Turner and was first publicly displayed in 1840.

All of this artwork can really be touching in many ways. The joys of emancipation and the feelings of hopelessness are captured very well in works of slavery art. Hopefully they will remain available to generations to come so that they may continue to remind us about the pain and torture that our world’s past inhabitants were subjected to.