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Philosophical or Whimsical?

Happy birthday to folk artist George W. White!

George White included commentary and recollections in the narrative relief panels and three-dimensional tableaux that he made after 1957. Although he emphasized his experience as a southern black man in constructions such as Emancipation House, his intent was often ambiguous, as was his use of stereotypical imagery in humorous or exaggerated form.

White maintained that this sculpture dealt with the "emancipation" of sexual awareness. Originally, the kerchiefed woman stood outside the outhouse, so frightened by a snake that her bodice had burst, fully exposing her bosom to a boy positioned outside the gate. Around 1975 the artist's widow removed the boy and reclothed and shifted the woman.

Details such as the illustration of Abraham Lincoln's inauguration and the men at work in a humble rural setting may also suggest White's perception of the lives of African Americans long after the Emancipation Proclamation. Whatever the message, White delivered it in an entertaining fashion. He even installed electrical wiring to activate the figures on the roof and illuminate the cabin's interior. The wiring, however, is no longer operational.

Source: Tom Patterson. Contemporary Folk Art: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (New York and Washington, D.C.: Watson-Guptill Publications, in cooperation with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2001).

Pictured: George W. White, Jr., 1903–1970, Emancipation House, 1964, mixed media: wood, cloth, and oil, 19 1/2 x 23 1/4 x 18 1/2 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.