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Michael
Michael
@mdstamper.bsky.social
4 months ago
American artist Lee Ransaw portrays Josephine Baker at rest, not in mid-dance but in a reflective pause, as if looking back over a life that remade popular culture. Born in St. Louis, Missouri and later a naturalized French citizen, Baker became the toast of Paris after La Revue Nègre in 1925 and went on to break barriers as a star of the Folies Bergère, a French Resistance courier and spy in World War II, and a prominent voice for civil rights. By placing her calm, mature figure between the memory of her electric performance and the monumental Arc de Triomphe, Ransaw honors her both as entertainer and as culture-changer. In this tall, teal-green portrait, a Black woman with warm brown skin leans against a carved bench, her body angled toward the viewer while her face turns gently to our right. Her eyes are closed, lashes lowered in a quiet, inward gaze. She wears a deep blue, off-the-shoulder evening gown with a soft ruffled neckline that frames her bare shoulders and long, elegant neck. Pale blue opera gloves sheath her forearms; her fingers interlace loosely in her lap, suggesting poise rather than performance. Her hair rises in a sculpted updo crowned with a jeweled band and a long tail of hair. She wears cascading, star-like earrings that echo the curves in her hairstyle. Behind her, saturated turquoise walls and columns suggest a Parisian terrace at night. To the left, an archway contains a glowing vignette of Josephine in a radiant stage costume, arms flung wide in dance before a silhouetted audience, while the Arc de Triomphe to the right, anchors her story in Paris. The lush greens and blues, elongated forms, and stylized features echo modern Black figurative painting while reclaiming Baker from the exoticizing gaze that once framed her. An Atlanta-based artist, professor, and founder of the National Alliance of Artists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Ransaw casts Baker as a dignified, self-possessed icon whose legacy still radiates.

American artist Lee Ransaw portrays Josephine Baker at rest, not in mid-dance but in a reflective pause, as if looking back over a life that remade popular culture. Born in St. Louis, Missouri and later a naturalized French citizen, Baker became the toast of Paris after La Revue Nègre in 1925 and went on to break barriers as a star of the Folies Bergère, a French Resistance courier and spy in World War II, and a prominent voice for civil rights. By placing her calm, mature figure between the memory of her electric performance and the monumental Arc de Triomphe, Ransaw honors her both as entertainer and as culture-changer. In this tall, teal-green portrait, a Black woman with warm brown skin leans against a carved bench, her body angled toward the viewer while her face turns gently to our right. Her eyes are closed, lashes lowered in a quiet, inward gaze. She wears a deep blue, off-the-shoulder evening gown with a soft ruffled neckline that frames her bare shoulders and long, elegant neck. Pale blue opera gloves sheath her forearms; her fingers interlace loosely in her lap, suggesting poise rather than performance. Her hair rises in a sculpted updo crowned with a jeweled band and a long tail of hair. She wears cascading, star-like earrings that echo the curves in her hairstyle. Behind her, saturated turquoise walls and columns suggest a Parisian terrace at night. To the left, an archway contains a glowing vignette of Josephine in a radiant stage costume, arms flung wide in dance before a silhouetted audience, while the Arc de Triomphe to the right, anchors her story in Paris. The lush greens and blues, elongated forms, and stylized features echo modern Black figurative painting while reclaiming Baker from the exoticizing gaze that once framed her. An Atlanta-based artist, professor, and founder of the National Alliance of Artists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Ransaw casts Baker as a dignified, self-possessed icon whose legacy still radiates.

“Josephine” by Lee A. Ransaw (American) - Acrylic on canvas / 2012 #WomenInArt #art #artText #artwork #LeeRansaw #Ransaw #JosephineBaker #BlackArt #AfricanAmericanArt #PortraitPainting #ParisArt #AmericanArt #PortraitofaWoman #BlueskyArt #AfricanAmericanArtist #AmericanArtist #ArtOfTheDay #portrait

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