BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center (NPG) -- Exhibit: Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now

DC -- Donald W. Reynolds Center (NPG) -- Exhibit: Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now:

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Description of Pictures: Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now
May 11, 2018 – March 10, 2019
Silhouettes—cut paper profiles—were a hugely popular and democratic form of portraiture in the 19th century, offering virtually instantaneous likenesses of everyone from presidents to those who were enslaved. The exhibition explores this relatively unstudied art form by examining its rich historical roots and considering its forceful contemporary presence. The show features works from the Portrait Gallery’s extensive collection of silhouettes, such as those by Auguste Edouart, who captured the likenesses of such notable figures as John Quincy Adams and Lydia Maria Child, and at the same time, the exhibition reveals how contemporary artists are reimagining silhouettes in bold and unforgettable ways.
Highlights of the historical objects include a double-silhouette portrait of a same-sex couple and a rarely seen life-size silhouette of a nineteen-year-old enslaved girl, along with the bill of her sale from 1796. The featured contemporary artists are Kara Walker, who makes panoramic silhouettes of plantation life and African American history; Canadian artist Kristi Malakoff, who cuts paper to make life-size sculptures depicting a children’s Maypole dance; MacArthur-prize-winner Camille Utterback, who will present an interactive digital work that reacts to visitors’ shadows and movements; and Kumi Yamashita, who “sculpts” light and shadow with objects to create mixed-media profiles of people who are not there. With both historical and contemporary explorations into the silhouette, Black Out reveals new pathways between our past and present, particularly with regard to how we can reassess notions of race, power, individualism, and even, our digital selves. This exhibition is curated by Portrait Gallery Curator of Prints, Drawings and Media Arts, Asma Naeem.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. BLACKO_180512_012.JPG: Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now
2. BLACKO_180512_016.JPG: Auguste Edouart 1788-1861 Auguste Edouart is best known for his elegant, hand-cut, full-length profile portraits that he made as he traveled the United States between 1839 and 1849. He emigrated from France by way of England and Scotland, bringing with him sophisticated ideas about portraiture. Earlier silhouettes in America had been almost exclusively bust portraits and had begun to go out of fashion almost everywhere, but Edouart's unmatched skill and attention to detail earned him the reputation as the most well-respected silhouettist of his time. Using embroidery scissors, he typically cut silhouettes by observing his sitters and moving the paper as much as his scissors, with his paper always folded to make duplicates. Edouart created this timeless image that links him to the learned traditions of Greece and Rome. He chose to depict himself in classical garb with long curls and a beard, with white highlights to add definition and suggest gray hair. Self-Portrait, 1843
3. BLACKO_180512_023.JPG: Letter to Auguste Edouart from Lydia Maria Child In her letter to Auguste Edouart, author Lydia Maria Child (1802–80) provides a rare glimpse into how people perceived Edouart's portraits in the mid- nineteenth century, before popular photography. She thanks him for his "beautiful shadow of a magnificent subject," and although we do not know whose portrait Edouart sent her, it was probably similar to his silhouettes in this exhibition. Child's other comments make it clear that Edouart provided her with a highly refined portrait. She notes that the portrait arrived framed and "finished with such elaborate care and tastefulness," and closes by saying, "Really your shadows are almost alive and breathing." Child's comments demonstrate why Edouart was such a successful portraitist. She implies that he conveyed his sitter's likeness through his ability to capture an individual's bearing and proportions. Sitters' gestures, as well as the props they frequently carry, give yet more precision to each of Edouart's portraits, and chalk highlights often embellish their clothing and props in a nod to black-and-white photography. c 1840s
4. BLACKO_180512_030.JPG: Robeson-Lea Family When making silhouettes, Auguste Edouart would "deliberate in [his] mind upon the points, which come forward, and those that retire." And because his hand needed to be as steady as possible, he avoided strong coffee, tea, and "spirits or any other excitements." For members of the intermarried Robeson and Lea families, Edouart apparently cut individuals' silhouettes on two different days. As in other individual and group portraits by Edouart, the sitters carry props: books, paper, spectacles, or a sewing bag. The silhouette hung above the sofa may represent a deceased relative. Members of the Robeson and Lea families were Quakers from the Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, area. Their clothing marked their faith: note the distinctive bonnets that the five women wear. While disavowing other forms of portraiture, Quakers joined the rest of America in the "rage of silhouettes." The Spartan simplicity of the art form aligned with the humility of their faith. Auguste Edouart, 1843
5. BLACKO_180512_042.JPG: Paul Cuffee, 1759-1817 Though rare, inspirational silhouettes of African Americans circulated widely in early America. Paul Cuffee, the son of a freed African man and Wampanoag woman, owned and commanded sailing vessels from Massachusetts, and helped colonize Sierra Leone in the early 1800s. Memorials to Cuffee describe him as "tall and athletic -- of noble bearing" and possessing "humility, civility, fortitude." This print, created around 1850, and based on a drawing by John Pole of Bristol, England, was commissioned by the Philadelphia-area antislavery activist Abraham L. Pennock, who sought to promote Cuffee's story and inspire abolitionists. The landscape probably represents Sierra Leone, and the date "1812" likely signifies the year Cuffee's vessel Traveller was seized by U.S. Customs for trans- porting British goods during an embargo. Traveller had carried African Americans from the United States to the then British colony of Sierra Leone, then returned with cargo via England. After Cuffee appealed to President James Madison, his goods were released. Mason & Maas, copy after John Pole, c 1850
6. BLACKO_180512_062.JPG: Kristi Malakoff
7. BLACKO_180512_067.JPG: Portable physiognotrace used by Raphaelle Peale A physiognotrace allowed artists to trace the outline of a sitter's head and simultaneously record a small profile on a piece of paper. The silhouette head was then cut from the paper. The style of this portable case suggests a piece of furniture rather than a tool, perhaps to impress sitters. Raphaelle Peale traveled throughout America with this object, using it to cut silhouettes of everyone from Thomas Jefferson to ordinary citizens. Physiognomy involves reading a person's character through his or her facial features, and while modern science disputes this notion, many people in the 1800s believed that a head's outline conveyed character and offered a means of classification. Wood (mahogany) with ivory knobs and metal rod, early 19th century Purchased through a generous donation from the Barra Foundation
8. BLACKO_180512_074.JPG: Justin Perkins and Mar Yohannan Early America was home to many global citizens. Congregationalist minister Justin Perkins and Assyrian Church of the East bishop Mar Yohannan met in Persia (now Iran) when Perkins lived there as a missionary. Perkins spread his faith as he opened up schools that he believed would improve the lives of Persians. Yohannan taught Perkins the Syriac language; Perkins then translated the New Testament, hymns, and religious tracts into Syriac. Yohannan traveled with Perkins to the United States in 1842 and 1843. Yohannan's willingness to interact with people of many faiths -- including Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Baptists -- and his title of "bishop" concerned some Episcopalians. In this portrait, Perkins holds a book and listens to Yohannan speak. Auguste Edouart made Yohannan's religious, linguistic, and ethnic differences from Perkins clear. Yohannan's signature in Syriac is glued to the top of the image. His long, tapered beard and hat are distinctive, while his flowing robe is similar to those worn by leaders of other faiths. Auguste Edouart, 1842
9. BLACKO_180512_079.JPG: South Sea Islanders Auguste Edouart, c 1826-61
10. BLACKO_180512_085.JPG: General J. D'Evereux and General Leslie Combs John D'Evereux and Leslie Combs were both political and military mavericks. D'Evereux, whom Auguste Edouart refers to in this picture as being "blind," came to the United States not long after he had been pardoned for his role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 against British rule. In 1817, he began to organize Irish and British recruits for Simón Bolívar's military efforts to liberate Venezuela and other parts of Latin America from Spain and was subsequently incarcerated in Venice for a brief period of time. Leslie Combs, shown "dressed in Kentucky hunting shirt as Gen. Harrison was at battle of Tippecanoe," was a young man in 1811 when he carried important information through dangerous territory to William Henry Harrison as he fought a confederation of Native Americans. In Harrison's 1840 presidential race, he, with the support of Combs, campaigned in part on his success in that famous battle. Auguste Edouart, 1844
11. BLACKO_180512_090.JPG: George Washington Whistler and Lady Whistler Haden Auguste Edouart cut portraits of George Whistler and his daughter seven months apart but placed them on the same page in conversation with each other. Miss Whistler holds a magnifying glass in one hand, which she likely used for needlework. By the time Auguste Edouart cut Miss Whistler's portrait, her father had set out for Russia where he served as chief engineer for the construction of the 420-mile railroad from Saint Petersburg to Moscow. Mr. Whistler was well prepared for this task. He had worked as a locomotive engineer, supervising the construction of numerous railroads and canals in the United States and had trained students at the U.S. Military Academy. Miss Whistler married Francis Seymour Haden in 1847 and lived much of her adult life in London. Her own talents included playing the piano, at which she was famously depicted by her half brother, the artist James McNeill Whistler. Auguste Edouart, 1842
12. BLACKO_180512_096.JPG: Joseph Marion Hernandez Shortly after the ratification of the Adams-Onís Treaty, which transferred political control of Florida to the United States, Joseph Marion Hernández became the first Hispanic to serve in the U.S. Congress. Born in St. Augustine to Minorcan émigrés, he was a territorial delegate-able to voice an opinion but not vote-from September 1822 to March 1823. After returning to Florida, he acquired land through purchases and grants, becoming quite wealthy. He participated in the Seminole War and accepted Osceola's surrender in 1837. For his efforts in this vicious struggle, he gained the title of brigadier general in the Florida Militia. When Florida became a state in 1845, Hernández ran again for Congress, lost, retired to Cuba, and died there. It is not known what took him to Washington in 1841, where Auguste Edouart, a Frenchman who was in America between 1839 and 1849, made this jaunty image. Auguste Edouart, 1841
13. BLACKO_180512_100.JPG: Euphrasie Borghese Auguste Edouart cut Euphrasie Borghese's portrait in August 1841, shortly after her arrival in the United States. The opera singer had performed in Italy, Paris, and Havana. Here, she holds an unusually detailed sheet of music that shows us precise notes, but not words, for an aria for a soprano. During the fall of 1841, Borghese appeared onstage in New York City numerous times. An early review noted that she was the "best singer we have ever heard on this side of the Atlantic" and remarked on her expressive, but not beautiful, countenance. By 1845, one critic noted that the opera Semiramide was "never so brilliantly performed," and that Borghese was celebrated with "a many-colored shower of wreaths and bouquets." She married Monsieur le Chevalier Maximilien Hardtmuth of Vienna in 1851, in New York City, and continued her operatic career. Auguste Edouart, 1841
14. BLACKO_180512_108.JPG: David Osgood and George Parker This double portrait references the temperance movement and homeopathy. George Phillips Parker, on the right, points to the United Brothers of Temperance pledge he holds in his hand, as if asking David Osgood to sign it. Members of temperance movements viewed alcohol as a root evil, impairing one's ability to live a happy and prosperous life. A year after this portrait was made, Parker was expelled for divulging the "private business of the order" in a temperance newspaper, but he nonetheless continued as a temperance advocate. Osgood, who graduated from Harvard (a year after Parker), became a well-regarded doctor who showed charity and kindness to his poor patients. In 1839, Osgood visited with the German physician Samuel Hahnemann in Paris, who advocated homeopathy, at the time a novel form of alternative medi- cine. Later, Osgood embraced homeopathy in his practice and participated in the active community of homeopathic physicians in Massachusetts. Auguste Edouart, 1844
15. BLACKO_180512_116.JPG: United brothers temperance pledge
16. BLACKO_180512_121.JPG: Myra Gaines and Edmund Gaines In this dual portrait, Myra Clark Gaines holds a sheet referencing her 1840 lecture "On the Horror of War" and that by her husband on "National Defense by Steam Power." The Gaineses undertook a multicity tour to promote their ideas. Edmund Pendleton Gaines advocated for the use of railroads as a key part of national defense, citing his frustration with roads and waterways during military engagements, while Myra spoke about the atrocities of war in terms of soldiers and families. Myra was also an advocate for women's suffrage, as well as the plain- tiff in the longest running court case in American history regarding her rights as heir, which she won posthumously. Auguste Edouart highlights Mr. Gaines's military roles through his depiction of elaborate clothing; note the ornate buttons, the epaulettes, and the sword on which he leans. Mr. Gaines was a hero of the War of 1812. Gainesville, Florida, is named for him. Auguste Edouart, 1841
17. BLACKO_180512_129.JPG: The Magic Lantern Auguste Edouart, c 1826-1861
18. BLACKO_180512_136.JPG: Robert H. Collyer and Monsieur De Bonneville In the mid-1800s, people engaged in both scientific and pseudoscientific efforts to try to understand how the brain worked. Dr. Robert Collyer studied phrenology, which focused on the shape of the head and its relation to characteristics and aptitudes believed to reside in separate regions of the brain. He traveled the country performing mesmerization -- essentially, hypnotization -- on people. Monsieur de Bonneville often served as Collyer's willing subject and also practiced mesmerism on his own. Collyer would first place his hand on a person's forehead and, as we see in this portrait, hold one or both hands. Note how Collyer stares into Bonneville's closed eyes and how physically close, almost entwined, their bodies are. In some cases, Collyer would extract teeth or electrocute sitters to prove the power of mesmerization to control the mind. Recently, scholars have noted that Collyer laid the groundwork for the practice of surgical anesthesia. Auguste Edouart, 1842
19. BLACKO_180512_141.JPG: Joaquin Cesar de Figaniere e Morao and Daniel J. Desmond This double silhouette suggests the intersection of the vast geopolitical and religious issues of the time. Joaquin Cesar de Figaniere e Morao stands to the left, as though listening to fellow diplomat Daniel Desmond speak, in these portraits taken months apart. De Figaniere e Morao represented Portugal in the United States, and Desmond served as the U.S. vice-consul to Portugal. In a career that spanned many decades in this and other diplomatic roles, de Figaniere e Morao advocated on Portugal's behalf regarding treaties, import duties, and other matters. Daniel Joseph Desmond fulfilled similar diplomatic roles for the United States with Austria, Portugal, and Italy. That he was a Catholic likely aided him in securing and filling the position of consul general of the Pontifical States. Desmond also supported Irish causes from his residence in Philadelphia, actively advocating for residents of Ireland to practice Catholicism freely. Auguste Edouart, 1842-43
20. BLACKO_180512_146.JPG: John Quincy Adams Auguste Edouart captured John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, twelve years after Adams had left office. Here, he stands in a setting that suggests his intellectual leanings. Note the bookshelf in the background and the rolled documents on the floor. Adams, whose political career was unusual, followed in his father's footsteps and served as the nation's president from 1825 to 1829. Opposition from Congress made it difficult for him to enact change. Following his defeat to Andrew Jackson for a second term, Adams became successful as a representative of Massachusetts. Adams vehemently opposed slavery. Trained as a lawyer, he effectively argued the well-known Amistad case before the Supreme Court in 1841. Consequently, the court freed the jailed Africans who had murdered the captain and several others on the slave ship that transported them. Adams also opposed the Mexican War, fearing that the annexation of Texas would extend slavery into new territory. Auguste Edouart, 1841
21. BLACKO_180512_157.JPG: Thomas Sully, 1783-1872 One fine portraitist depicts another in this silhouette. Auguste Edouart shows artist Thomas Sully standing at his easel with a brush in his hand. Sully also holds a maul stick, which helped steady his hand and kept it from touching the painting's wet surface. Edouart added much detail to the portrait -- note the chalk highlights on Sully's coat and palette. By contrast, the background is plainer than the elaborate, printed settings of other sitters. Edouart diluted ink with water to create the surface on which Sully stands. Sully painted thousands of people in his Philadelphia studio and executed landscapes and historical paintings during his unusually long career. He was deeply embedded in Philadelphia's intersecting artistic communities of painters, printmakers, publishers, photographers, and silhouettists. Born in England, he returned there for his most important commission: a portrait of Queen Victoria in 1838, the year of her coronation. Auguste Edouart, 1843
22. BLACKO_180512_163.JPG: Catharine Williams and William Mead Catharine R. Williams's biographer described her as "short and stout," with eyes that were "small and piercing." He was more flattering about her literary work, which enabled her to earn sufficient income to sustain herself and her child after a brief marriage and divorce. She was a relatively early writer of colonial and national history and one of the few women authors who focused on the period. She is best remembered for her unsuccessful advocacy for universal suffrage for white men in her home state of Rhode Island. William Cooper Mead was the rector of a Connecticut church for forty-three years. He also undertook important roles in the Episcopal Diocesan Conventions. His specialty was canon law, and he helped develop the shared principles and processes for church governance. Mead was also a Freemason, serving for a time as the grand chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Auguste Edouart, 1843
23. BLACKO_180512_170.JPG: Sarah Josepha Buell Hale Sarah Josepha Buell Hale was a thirty-four-year-old New Hampshire housewife when her husband died suddenly, leaving her with five small children to support. Putting her literary propensity to use, she published poetry and a novel. In 1828 she was offered the editorship of the Boston-based Ladies' Magazine (the first American periodical planned exclusively for women) and in 1837 was installed as literary editor of Louis Godey's Lady's Book. Hale promised her readers "literary excellence and artistic beauty, still keeping the moral tone onward and upward." A strong advocate for increased educational opportunities for women (within the accepted female sphere), Hale proclaimed that woman in the nineteenth century stood "side by side with man, a help-meet for him in all his pursuits and improvements." Auguste Edouart, 1842
24. BLACKO_180512_177.JPG: Oliver Caswell, 1830-1896 Auguste Edouart describes Oliver Caswell as "blind, deaf, and dumb," but despite being unable to see or hear, Caswell did learn to speak. Dr. Samuel Howe, who directed the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, described Caswell as having "a manly, courageous temper, an amiable and affectionate heart, and a good intellect." Caswell was often compared to student and occasional teacher Laura Bridgman, whose silhouette is also featured in this exhibition. At the Perkins Institution, Caswell learned to write, read braille, and hone his talents as a wood-worker. His diary entries from this time also reveal his engagement with everyday activities, such as playing with a friend in the rain, eating pudding, and musing over long words. Edouart captured Caswell seated at a table, fingering the tines on a fork. A teacup and toy house rest on the table in an elaborate parlor. Auguste Edouart, 1843
25. BLACKO_180512_194.JPG: Titian and Rembrandt Peale Though appearing to converse in this composition by Auguste Edouart, brothers Titian and Rembrandt Peale, both sons of Philadelphia artist Charles Willson Peale, had their silhouettes made three days apart. Titian is identified as the proprietor of the Philadelphia Museum, the institution that his father had founded in 1784. Titian's contributions to the museum included ethnographic and natural history specimens, notably a butterfly collection from the American West and abroad. Following a period of financial decline, he was eventually forced to close the museum and subsequently went on to experiment with early photographic processes and techniques, and to work in the U.S. Patent Office. Rembrandt, shown at the right wearing glasses, operated a branch of the Peale Museum in Baltimore from 1814 until 1822, selling it to his brother Rubens. While he is best known for his "porthole" portraits of George Washington as pater patriae, Rembrandt also produced hundreds of other portraits and history paintings. Auguste Edouart, 1842
26. BLACKO_180512_200.JPG: Flora Bill of Sale
27. BLACKO_180512_211.JPG: Silhouette Martha Ann Honeywell, 1810-1840
28. BLACKO_180512_224.JPG: A Good Likeness of Sancho, a Negro This unusually precise image of Sancho was created less for sentimentality than for cataloguing property. The accompanying text describes him as "about five feet high, very black complexion, good teeth, not corpulent, but well-formed," and "a fast walker," and also notes that he had been trained as a barber. With particular irony, the advertisement states that if Sancho voluntarily returns to the service of his master, he shall be received with "kindness," while anyone found to be harboring him will be punished. Sancho probably lived on Winthrop Sargent's plantation near Natchez, Mississippi. The governor of the Mississippi Territory, Sargent resided on part of an eleven-thousand-acre plantation that at one time held over three hundred enslaved people. Unidentified artist, 1807
29. BLACKO_180512_236.JPG: Tea Cups and Saucers Unidentified artist, 1872
30. BLACKO_180512_245.JPG: Emma Catherine Embury Auguste Edouart makes clear some of Emma Catherine Embury's roles: she was an "Authoress," "wife of Daniel," and "Daughter of Dr. James Manley." Embury first published while a teenager, under the pseudonym "Ianthe." As an adult, her poems and stories appeared in widely read periodicals, such as Godey's Lady's Book. Like many other women writers of the time, her work focused on such themes as unrequited love and silent suffering. She also hosted literary salons at her commodious Brooklyn home. Although Embury's portrait lacks the extensive chalk or graphite highlights of other images by Edouart, he still provides many details. Note the spectacles that rest on her nose, the necklace or cord dangling on her chest, and the book she carries. He created her shadow by filling the area beneath her dress with wash (diluted ink). As is the case with other portraits, Edouart glued a pair of shoes on separately from the rest of her clothing. Auguste Edouart, 1839
31. BLACKO_180512_252.JPG: Mary Phelps Austin Holley, 1784-1846 Mary Phelps Austin Holley made several trips to Texas between 1831 and 1843, writing a book about her early travels in 1833. According to Auguste Edouart, the volume, entitled Texas: Observations Historical, Geographical, and Descriptive, was "the first work" on the subject and the one upon which "all the rest were founded." Another commentator described the book as a work of "great purity and elegance of style." Holley visited Austin, then a colony, which had been founded by her cousin Steven Austin, and she went on to join the campaign for the annexation of Texas and invest in land there. Edouart captures Holley seated without props that refer to her accomplishments or attributes. Her obituary tells us more: she was "slight and graceful" with finely turned features that "glowed with animation when aroused by her subject." Auguste Edouart, 1844
32. BLACKO_180512_257.JPG: Major Stevens, 1805-1866 At first glance, Auguste Edouart's silhouette of Major Joseph L. M. Stevens appears to depict a boy in adult's clothing. A closer look, however, tells a different story, as Edouart notes: "American Dwarf," and "42 inches high / 34 years old and weight 50 pounds." People with dwarfism captured the imagination of citizens in the 1800s. Stevens was employed by the New England Museum and the Boston Theatre, where audiences could indulge their curiosity about a man who frequently played the character "Tom Thumb." He later took more control over his performances, booking his own venues. Stevens's career has been overshadowed by the "other" Tom Thumb, Charles Sherwood Stratton, who achieved fame through P. T. Barnum's shows. While Stevens's biography goes far to recount his lively social life, the story is nonetheless tempered by the subject's own observation. Other people, Stevens notes, wanted to spend time with him "for the object of viewing me [rather] than for the pleasure of my company." Auguste Edouart, 1839
33. BLACKO_180512_263.JPG: Double Silhouette: Sylvia Drake and Charity Bryant Unidentified artist, c 1805-1815
34. BLACKO_180512_268.JPG: Unidentified Woman aken with a physiognotrace, this portrait was intended to record the sitter's facial features, which in turn could be used to "read" her character. Although such interpretations are now considered inaccurate, a profile portrait can tell us other things. This subject's headdress appears to be African in origin. As her portrait was found in an album of silhouettes that artist William Bache primarily produced in New Orleans, we can speculate that it was taken there. Bache's album begins with silhouettes of George and Martha Washington. At a time when only powerful Anglo-Europeans were memorialized in oil paintings, this silhouette marked a remarkable moment for a woman of such working-class status. Thus, even though the identity of this woman is unknown, this tiny silhouette heralds a sea change. Americans from all walks of life could have their portraits made, just like the president of the United States. William Bache, c. 1803-1812
35. BLACKO_180512_273.JPG: Laura Dewey Bridgman, 1829-1899 When Laura Dewey Bridgman was two, scarlet fever left her without the ability to see or hear, and her senses of taste and smell were impaired. Just before her eighth birthday, she entered into Boston's Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, where the director, Dr. Samuel Howe, took a special interest in teaching her. Howe attached labels with raised letters to common objects such as kitchen utensils, and Bridgman learned to identify letters and combine them into words. After Charles Dickens publicized her achievements, which he had witnessed firsthand, visitors flocked to the Perkins Institution to see Bridgman demonstrate her prowess. She went on to assist in the teaching of others, including Oliver Caswell, whose portrait is also included in this exhibition. At her death, her brain and sensory-related organs were dissected in an effort to understand the relationships between her disabilities and her accomplishments. Auguste Edouart, 1843
36. BLACKO_180512_279.JPG: Chin Sung This silhouette offers insight into America's many international diplomatic missions and its position on the global stage. Chin Sung came to the United States in 1841 with a missionary, the Reverend Peter Parker, MD, and stayed for a year. Parker expanded his knowledge of Chinese through his relationship with Chin, while Chin developed his comprehension of English at a Massachusetts school. Auguste Edouart took great pains to distinguish Chin from his other subjects, capturing Chin's clothing and headgear as well as his unusually long braid. Chin points to the characters at the upper left, which note that he was from Peking but also lived in Canton and Macao. The other characters mention his conversational ability with friends, that he looks at the moon, and that he is reciting a poem. Edouart was not the only artist who portrayed Chin in this pose, suggesting that Chin exercised some agency in determining how he was depicted. Auguste Edouart, 1841
37. BLACKO_180512_287.JPG: Ledger book of William Bache, with associated pieces Inexpensive silhouettes were a popular form of portraiture from about 1790 to 1840, when the invention of photography made them obsolete. Englishman William Bache, who compiled this sample book of 1,846 silhouettes that he had made in America, came to New Orleans in about 1803, after working first in Philadelphia. The cut portraits that he made in this southern city included those of the last Spanish military governor of the Louisiana Territory, Sebastian Calvo de la Puerta, Marquess of Casa Calvo; the new governor of the American territory, William, C. C. Claiborne; artist Ambrose Duval; numerous New Orleans tradespeople, civil servants, and their families; as well as portraits of African Americans, who comprised a large part of the population. William Bache, c 1803-1809
38. BLACKO_180512_291.JPG: Josephine Clifton, 1813-1847 Auguste Edouart's portrait of actor Josephine Clifton gives little intimation of her short-lived, dynamic career. Nor does it convey her height; she was "an imposing presence" who stood around six feet tall. Edouart provides much detail in her clothing and shows her carrying a small purse. Clifton's life was filled with controversy and mired by ill health. For much of her career, she was dogged by claims that her mother had run a brothel. A contemporary suggested that this debate led her manners to exhibit "a masculine cast," which overshadowed "a character naturally feminine and genial." Clifton played important leading roles during a career that took her to London, New York City, and other centers for theater. In Philadelphia, she often appeared in performances with the prominent actor Edwin Forrest. That she was cited as an adulteress in his divorce proceedings after her death suggests how such controversies shaped her legacy. Auguste Edouart, 1842
39. BLACKO_180512_295.JPG: Mr. Shaw's Blackman Attributed to Moses Williams, after 1802
40. BLACKO_180512_301.JPG: Slave Belonging to Mrs. Oyley Auguste Edouart, 1844
41. BLACKO_180512_307.JPG: Absalom Jones, 1746-1818 Adorned with a silhouette of the Reverend Absalom Jones and Masonic emblems, this jug likely commemorates the tenth anniversary of the first African American Masonic order, which Jones co-founded in 1798. Born in Delaware, Jones was enslaved until his owner freed him in 1784. He subsequently worked to form the Free African Society, an organization that assisted newly freed slaves. Jones became the first African American Episcopal priest, and while unsuccessful, he petitioned Congress regarding "the oppression and violence which so great a number of like colour and National Descent are subjected." Unidentified artist, c 1808
42. BLACKO_180512_315.JPG: Dalmany (Slave Belonging to Mr. Dalman) Auguste Edouart, 1844
43. BLACKO_180512_321.JPG: Moses Williams, Cutter of Profiles Probably by Moses Williams, c 1803
44. BLACKO_180512_327.JPG: Lydia Maria Francis Child, 1802-1880 Lydia Maria Child served on the executive board of the American Anti-Slavery Society, believing that women could accomplish more by working along- side men than they could working separately. She also advocated for the rights of Native Americans. When Child sat for this silhouette in 1841, she was a prominent writer and ardent abolitionist. Auguste Edouart depicts Child seated as she concentrates on reading a text whose even lines suggest a printed book. Child wrote novels, as well as fiction and poetry that appeared in periodicals and newspapers. Her most famous poem begins, "Over the river and through the woods." Child's popularity was due in part to her ability to write in an entertaining style that sustained middle-class morals. Yet she also wrote more controversial works, such as Hobomok: A Tale of Early Times. The novel, published under a pseudonym, focuses on the marriage between a white woman and a Native American man and the child they had together. Auguste Edouart, 1841
45. BLACKO_180512_374.JPG: Kara Walker
46. BLACKO_180512_382.JPG: Auntie Walker's Wall Sampler for Civilians
47. BLACKO_180512_385.JPG: Burning African Village Play Set with Big House and Lynching
48. BLACKO_180512_405.JPG: Chair Kumi Yamashita, 2010
49. BLACKO_180512_410.JPG: Kumi Yamashita
50. BLACKO_180512_493.JPG: Camille Utterback
51. BLACKO_180512_552.JPG: Black Out Silhouettes Then and Now
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