Change Never Comes Easily
The “Great Migration,” a period which occurred in the early twentieth century, refers to a time when African Americans from the southern United States traveled north in search of work. Industrial cities such as Detriot, Chicago, New York, and St. Louis offered factory jobs to unskilled black workers, who in the South particularly, never found adequate employment opportunities. Not only did a lack of jobs force black southern males northward, but so did other social inequalities, such as lynchings, unwarranted arrests, and harsh treatment from landlords. Overall, though, those migrants who left their homeland in the South hoped to escape the hardships, which undoubtedly plagued their lives, and instead find a respectable life, a promise the North provided (Patterson). Depicting the difficult transitions made by these people, as well as their hardships in the South prior to this departure, became a central theme to several African American artists’ works in the years that followed the “Great Migration.” Both Rose Piper and Jacob Lawrence painted pieces of this time, yet express differing emotions felt by southern Blacks as they dealt with discriminatory treatment, and then attempted to rise above such prejudices to find a more decent lifestyle.
Funded by the Rosenwald Foundation Fellowships grant, Lawrence specifically planned to record the causes of the “Great Migration,”and then show the life Blacks found in the North in his Migration of the Negro Series [1940 to 1941?] (Wheat 59). Inspired by Francisco Goya’s The Disasters of War, No. 36: Tampoco,
a work that captures the brutal acts Napoleon’s armies committed against the Spanish people (Wheat 60), Lawrence also illustrates unjustified acts of violence in No. 15. His piece, however, expresses the harsh realities of racism in the southern United States, which prompted many Blacks to relocate to the North. Lawrence’s earlier series also portray a succession of historical events relevant to the Black cause, yet these paintings resulted from the artist’s research (Wheat 60). The Migration of the Negro Series, on the other hand, reflects Lawrence’s personal knowledge of the “Great Migration”, as told to him by family and friends when a child, therefore adding a personal ambiance to the set. Specifically, he recalls his parents, “…talk[ing] about the lynchings” (Wheat 60), a form of murder that claimed more than 6,000 lives in the 100 years following the Civil War (Lynching 1).
Lawrence’s No. 15 captures the despair caused in the wake of the social injustice that has just occurred by using objects without distinct features to convey a somber mood. The painting's central focus, a black noose hanging from a tree limb, sets the theme of immorality in society. Representative of death, the noose's color alludes to its sinful purpose, to take the life of an African American. The absence of a body (hanging from the noose) shifts the viewer's attention away from this murderous act, and instead focuses on the emotions of the small, solitary figure perched in the background. Shaded bright red to convey the fury this character feels toward the hanging, Lawrence provides little accentuation to his round body. He does not emphasize gender or race either, because the universal emotion of grief shows no discrepancy based on these demographic features. His head, barely visible, alludes to the idea that he is bowed over, probably crying. To display the figure's disgust for the noose that hangs on the nearby tree limb, Lawrence shows the man's back facing it. Yet, because he continues to sit in the object's presence, the struggle between feeling appalled by this unmerited treatment and the inability to escape it, is symbolized (Wheat 79).
In addition, Lawrence's use of contrasting colors expresses the essence of good and evil in the South during the early twentieth century. The small figure sits on a stump, thus tying him to the land. This land, colored dark brown, comprises the lower half of the painting and represents the figure's current living conditions. Darkly shaded, it reflects the harsh attitude of inadequacy that African Americans were perpetually reminded of by the "superior" white man. This gap in the social hierarchy of southern America left Blacks discriminated against, which therefore made it difficult to prosper educationally or finacially. Lawrence illustrates this reality and expresses it as a cause for the "Great Migration" through bleak coloring. Contradicting the gloomy ground with pastel shades of purple and pink, Lawrence adds a serene sky to No. 15 to remind the viewer of the figure's hope that better times await him. This may refer to the character's religious faith, or simply suggest that moving north (up) will hold more favorable treatment (Wheat 79).
Rose Piper’s piece Slow Down Freight Train (1946) again illustrates the hardships endured by African Americans during the “Great M
igration” (Slow 1). Born in 1917, Piper grew up during this era as well. Her piece, heavily influenced by Trixie Smith’s song “Freight Train Blues”, closely correlates with the tune’s lyrics. In this melody Smith sings, “It was a mean ol’ train that took my man away from here” (Slow 2). Piper depicts the male counterpart of whom she speaks, as he leaves home (Piper).
Slow Down Freight Train conveys the emotional turmoil experienced by African Americans during the “Great Migration” by using a sinuous body as its central focus. The character’s elongated form suggests the quintessence of yearning (Slow 1). With his head tilted upward and mouth slightly open, the character expresses pain. His green skin-tone suggests an envious attitude toward those who remain undisturbed by the current conditions in the South. The most vivid feature of this man, his bright red shirt, symbolizes the rage and resentment he feels about having to leave his home. As he holds the sideboard of the boxcar, the strength of his grip is evident by use of dark shading on the second portion of his fingers. Again, this demonstrates the reluctance of this man to depart from his current lifestyle. On one knee, Piper signifies the unbearable amount of emotional distress this man is experiencing. Outlined with flowing curves, Piper gives this central object human-like qualities, perhaps to express the human emotions it is experiencing, yet the straight, diagonal lines that intersect his neck and chest provide a sense of movement (Optical 1). This use of illusion conveys the idea that his bending over results from intolerable pain (Piper).
The background of Slow Down Freight Train, however, raw with color, employs a more geometric style (Slow 1), obvious through the use of straight, flat lines, which symbolize the cut and dry reality of inequality in the South during the “Great Migration” . The open boxcar door exposes a vibrant green landscape, shaded identically to the hue of the character’s skin. This links the harsh laws of the land directed at blacks to the despair it has caused this one particular man, thus resulting in his migration. Over the landscape sits a block of pale green sky, symbolizing brighter times to come after rising above the social injustices that plague the South. Then, behind the figure’s head rests a spectrum, consisting of light colors on top, which gradually turn into darker hues. The darker shades at the bottom of the spectrum sit closest to the man, and ultimately signify the racist standards that exist at this particular moment, before escaping the South. Moving upward, however, luminous colors replace these gloomy shades. This transformation implies a progression of standards by which he will live, as well as opportunities that await this man in the North. Overall, Piper's use of flat, straight lines compliments the harshness of her painting's topic (Piper).
“It is the sober truth that our feelings about things do colour the way in which we see them…” (Gombrich 447) certainly holds true in Slow Down Freight Train and No. 15, which use bold colors to symbolize vehement emotions experienced by their characters. Both Piper and Lawrence undoubtedly experienced racism, and thus colored their paintings to reflect the anger it provoked in them, as well as their people. Furthermore, they employ an expressionist style that tastefully expresses the agony (Janson 513) of the "Great Migration" through raw shading. Common for this technique, both paintings focus more on the despair of the era, instead of glorifying the positive aspects of American society during this time.
Although Lawrence and Piper both express the hardships endured by African Americans during the "Great Migration," Lawrence's No.15 focuses on the social factors that led to this mass relocation, while Piper pinpoints the emotional distress that resulted from the move. Their documentation of this maltreatment provides younger generations with an account of the repression experienced by Blacks, particularly in the South. By conveying this sense of anguish through their works, Lawrence and Piper help communicate animosity about inequality to all races, in the hope that such horrific injustices will be understood, and therefore go unrepeated (Wheat 71).
Works Cited
"Optical Art Designs." Geometry in Art. Online. Netscape. 14 Nov. 1999
Gombrich, E H. The Story of Art. London: Phaidon P., 1972.
Janson, H W. History of Art. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1973.
Patterson, Edwin. Untitled interview. Sarah Kate Patterson. 5 Nov.1999.
Piper, Rose. Slow Down Freight Train. Ackland Art Museum. Chapel Hill.
"Slow Down Freight Train." Ackland Art Museum. Online. Netscape. 12 Nov. 1999
Wheat, Ellen Harkins. Jacob Lawrence: American Painter. Seattle: U of Washington P, 1986.