Went to the Gibbes Museum of Art today to check out their Rembrandt gallery. It was such an amazing collection and I want to go back to see more of the museum. I did come home with this guy for my tree. #gibbesmuseum #artgallery #statueofdavid #charlestonartscene

Although this painting is commonly known as “Dinah” or “Portrait of a Negress,” neither term originated with American artist Eastman Johnson. “Dinah” was often a generic name assigned to Black women in 19th-century song and minstrel culture, and “Negress” was a racialized label that erased personal identity. The real woman’s name is lost, yet her humanity resists anonymity: her posture upright, her gaze unwavering. The older Black woman sits upright, resting both hands on the curved head of a walking stick that rises beneath her chin. She wears a soft blue apron beneath a brown shawl edged with red and blue, and a striped headwrap that frames her composed, thoughtful face. Her gaze is steady, intelligent, and full of quiet endurance. The background fades to deep shadow, while light grazes her rounded features and textured fabrics, illuminating a presence that feels both personal and symbolic. Johnson’s brushwork is spare and intimate, emphasizing the sitter’s dignity rather than idealizing her which was likely a radical gesture in an age when Black figures were seldom depicted as individuals. Created shortly after the Civil War, the painting reflects Johnson’s evolving commitment to portraying African Americans with empathy and moral gravity. His abolitionist family background and Reconstruction-era travels informed his desire to depict the daily strength of Black life. The woman’s cane, apron, and expression hint at years of labor and resilience, inviting us to see story instead of stereotype. Exhibited in The Portrayal of the Negro in American Painting (Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 1964) and Eastman Johnson: Painting America (Brooklyn Museum, 1999), the work continues to provoke questions of representation, authorship, and voice. Through her gaze, the woman,now known only as “Dinah,” endures as an image of quiet resistance, a reminder of both visibility and tribulation.

“Dinah (Portrait of a Negress)” by Eastman Johnson (American) – Oil on paperboard / c. 1867–1869 – Gibbes Museum of Art (Charleston, South Carolina) #WomenInArt #AmericanArt #EastmanJohnson #art #artText #artwork #GibbesMuseumofArt #GibbesMuseum #BlueskyArt #bskyart #PortraitofaWoman #OilPainting

Barkley L. Hendricks was a contemporary American painter who made pioneering contributions to Black portraiture and conceptualism. While he worked in a variety of media and genres throughout his career (from photography to landscape painting), Hendricks' best known work took the form of life-sized painted oil portraits of Black Americans. Hendricks was born in Philadelphia in 1945 and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Yale University. His work deals with contemporary black life and culture. He combines realism, Pop and abstraction to create a thoroughly modern, yet simultaneously timeless, style. But Hendricks does not simply illustrate his subjects. These life-sized figures facilitate a confrontation between the viewer and the painting. He portrays unique individuals that, through their poses and clothing, assert their style, individuality and self-awareness. Estelle Johnson, a South Carolina native, was a student at Connecticut College, where Hendricks was Professor of Studio Art — teaching drawing, illustration, oil, and watercolor painting, plus photography, from 1972 until his retirement in 2010, when he became Professor Emeritus. He was a key figure in the Black Arts Movement and was the first African American to have a solo exhibit at the Frick Collection in Manhattan for his portraits of Black men and women. A plain bright green background draws all attention to the caramel-skinned and beautiful Estelle, isolating her from any other context. She is wearing a black jumpsuit with flared legs and thin red and white stripes across the midriff. She's also wearing a dark headwrap and long earrings. She carries a brown shoulder bag. Her posture is relaxed, one hand resting on her hip and the other holding the bag's strap. Her expression conveys individuality, with her eyes lowered. The visually impactful painting conveys a sense of quietude and likely a reflection on Estelle’s style and identity during the 1970s.

Ms. Johnson (Estelle) by Barkley Hendricks (American) - Oil snd acrylic on linen canvas / 1972 - Gibbes Museum of Art (Charleston, South Carolina) #WomenInArt #ArtText #art #BarkleyHendricks #Hendricks #1970s #artwork #womensart #GibbesMuseum #portrait #AfricanAmericanArtist #AfricanAmericanArt