Apparelled In His White Alb, Saint Remus Gossypium Hirsutum, Stoic Before His Sanguine Colored Buskins
Object Details
- Caption
- This painting, created by artist Kermit Oliver with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in mind, is representative of Oliver’s distinctive style, which he calls "symbolic realism." Focused on the central figure of Saint Remus, the painting elevates Joel Chandler Harris’ fictional character of Uncle Remus to a saint. The "white alb" of the title evokes the rite of communion and symbolizes, according to Oliver, "light, purity, truth, innocence, the sacred or divine, truth, and revelation. White is also the color of sacrificial victims." The whiteface paint is inspired by the tragic actors of Noh and Kabuki theater, as well as the art of miming, which is further referenced in the style of Remus’ garment. According to Oliver’s artist statement, Remus as mime provides a "metaphor of the depiction and definition of the Black role in the White American society of the South. This was the Black American Tragedy that has only evolved throughout these three hundred years." The black masquerade mask around Remus’ neck advances this metaphor as Oliver notes how, "The Black American has experienced this role through the mask of Blackness that as a race has not been able to discard." However, the Black mask Saint Remus wears grants him some protection for himself, serving as "a symbol of transformation, protection, identification, or disguise."
- Frequently in his works, Oliver alludes to ancient Greek and Roman themes and symbols. Here, Oliver depicts buskins, a boot worn in ancient Greek tragedies that he transforms into red high-top sneakers. Saint Remus does not wear the sneakers/buskins because he, "leaves his bared feet exposed, feeling the spirit of the earth as Moses did when being given the commandments by God." However, these high-tops are an attribute of Saint Remus’ sacrifice. The color of his high-tops symbolize, "blood…, fire, war, energy, aggression, danger, political revolution, impulse, emotion, passion, love, joy, festivity, vitality, health, strength and youth."
- Lastly, Saint Remus is surrounded by a variety of fauna and flora that are the, "actors and characters in his tales to the young white child" (not physically depicted but present in Chandler’s tales) "addressing the morality and follies of humankind, calling attention to human weaknesses or desired virtues and unintended consequences to teach commonsense lessons… Saint Remus stands in a space of growth with watermelon and the cotton flower representing the associations of small pleasure and tragic evil he had experienced during enslavement." The guinea fowl in the bottom right corner is an allusion to Africa as homeland.
- Description
- A painting depicting the central figure of "Saint Remus," standing in a bright, sunny field surrounded by flora and fauna. Remus, depicted as an older Black man, stands gazing at the viewer, wearing all white and with a white-painted face. His garments resemble a mime's with a billowing white smock and loose pants. the smock has a center row of cotton balls as exaggerated buttons. He has receding white hair and his entire face, including lips and eyelids, is covered in white face paint. A black masquerade mask hangs around his neck. A white rooster is perched on his proper right hand, held chest high. A barn owl is perched on his proper left hand, which is inside the pocket of his white smock. At his feet, which are hidden under his white pants, are a pair of red hightop sneakers with white soles and toe caps.
- Saint Remus is depicted in an open field, just in front of a low hedge composed of the green foliage and pink blossoms of the cotton plant (gossypium hirsutum), as well as a single watermelon, and several small yellow flowers. There are a variety of Texas animals arranged in front of Remus, within the hedge, and in the field beyond. At his feet, from left to right are: a pig, a weasel, a crow, a red fox, a sparrow, a toad, a quail, a snake, a turtle, a skunk, an opossum with three babies on its back, a hare, a lizard, a raccoon, and a black and grey speckled dog. In the bottom right corner, just behind the dog, the head of an African guineafowl peeks out. In the hedge to the left of Remus is a black bear and coyote on either side of the watermelon. To his right, the eyes and ears of a grey cat-like animal, possibly a bobcat, peeks out from the cotton plant hedge. Also within the hedge is a brown and white goat. Arranged in the field behind Remus is (clockwise from his left elbow) a wild turkey, a Mississippi kite bird, a white crane, a white-tailed deer, a brown horse, a brown and white cow, a long-horned ram, and a black vulture. In the far distance is a line of trees under a blue sky with billowing white clouds.
- The painting is held within a wooden frame handmade by the artist. It has been painted black and then white-washed, with wood pulp molded foliage designs at the bottom corners and a shell design at top center. It is signed in the bottom right in pale gray paint: [Oliver]. An inscription is written on the reverse in green paint in all caps: [“Apparelled in his White Alb, Saint Remus Gossypuim Hirsutum, / Stoic Before his Sanguine Colored Buskins." / 24 X 18 / Acrylic on gessoed cardboard on wood panel / Kermit Oliver 2020]. A backing board with a printed adhesive label from Hooks Epstein Galleries has been added to help secure the painting in the frame.
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. This purchase is generously supported by American Express.
- Data Source
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Date
- 2020
- Object number
- 2021.104
- Created by
- Kermit Oliver, American, born 1943
- Restrictions & Rights
- © Kermit Oliver
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
- Type
- oil paintings
- Medium
- acrylic paint on gessoed cardboard on wood panel with painted wood frame
- Dimensions
- H x W (Painting): 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm)
- H x W x D (Frame): 31 × 25 × 2 in. (78.7 × 63.5 × 5.1 cm)
- See more items in
- National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
- Classification
- Visual Arts
- Exhibition
- Cultural Expressions
- On View
- NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 050
- Topic
- African American
- American South
- Art
- Catholicism
- Cotton
- Folklife
- Identity
- Nature
- Race relations
- Religion
- Slavery
- Spirituality
- Record ID
- nmaahc_2021.104
