Why Born Enslaved!
| Why Born Enslaved? | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux |
| Year | 1868 (1869, 1873) |
| Medium | Marble |
| Location | Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (Copenhagen), Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), Petit Palais (Paris), National Museum (Warsaw) |
Why Born Enslaved? or Why Born a Slave? (French: Pourquoi! Naitre esclave? or La Negresse) is a life-sized marble bust by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux depicting a bound woman of African descent. It is represented in a number of museums, for instance the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen (marble, 1869) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New Tork City (marble, 1873).
History[]
While the composition, modeled in 1868, debuted at the Paris Salon in 1869 and was reproduced in various media, the marble version was carved in 1873. Carpeaux added the inscription in French, "Pourquoi naître esclave?" (Why born a slave?).[1] The work was a preparatory work for the commission he had for the Fontaine de l'Observatoire, a fountain in the Jardin Marco Polo, south of the Jardin du Luxembourg in the 6th arrondissement of Paris.[2]
Carpeaux explored the theme of slavery in his artwork after abolition in France in 1848 and the end of the United States Civil War in 1865.
Versions[]
- An 1869 marble version of the bust is in the collection of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek ( MIN 1671) in Copenhagen. In 1911 it was acquired by the Carlsberg Foundation from Eugène Plantié in Caen and presented to the museum.
- Another version is in the Musée des beaux-arts de la ville de Paris in Paris.
- Another version of the bust is owned by the National Gallery of Poland.
A 1868 bronze version titled The Negress is in the permanent collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
See also[]
- The Negress bronze sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.
- Fontaine de l'Observatoire
References[]
- ^ Lugo-Ortiz, Agnes; Rosenthal, Angela (2013-09-30). Slave Portraiture in the Atlantic World. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-00439-9.
- ^ "Why Born Enslaved! in the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
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External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pourquoi naître esclave ?. |
- Why Born Enslaved! (modeled 1868, carved 1873) - marble version at The Met Museum
- Why Born Enslaved! (1872) - terra cotta version at The Met Museum
- Woman of African Descent (1868) - plaster with patina version at the Brooklyn Museum
- The Four Parts of the World Holding the Celestial Sphere - fountain and sculpture in Paris for which Why Born Enslaved! served as a model
- 1869 sculptures
- 1873 sculptures
- Sculptures of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
- Sculptures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Marble sculptures in Copenhagen
- Sculptures in Paris
- Marble sculptures
- Slavery in art
- Black people in art