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Activity: Portraits of Black Women

Holding a bunch of peonies in one hand, a woman with brown skin leans forward, toward us from behind a large basket holding dozens of flowers in this horizontal painting. The basket holding the flowers spans the width of the canvas, and the woman is shown behind it from the chest up. She wears a cream-white, long-sleeved blouse with scalloped trim around the high neck. She wears coral-red earrings, and a plaid cloth in tones of rust red, slate blue, pale purple, and black is tied tightly over her black hair, which is visible over her ears. Her brow is slightly furrowed, and she looks at us with large, dark eyes. Her full mouth is closed, the corners faintly downturned. She reaches her right arm, on our left, toward us with a bouquet of three pink-and-white peonies and greenery. Her basket is filled with yellow and red tulips, pink roses, white and purple lilac, and other white, pink, yellow, and blue flowers, and it takes up the bottom third of the composition. The woman and basket are shown against a dove-gray background. The artist prominently signed and dated the work with red letters near the upper right corner, near the woman’s head: “F. Bazille. 1870.”

Frédéric Bazille, Young Woman with Peonies, 1870, oil on canvas, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, 1983.1.6

Observation and Discussion

  1. Ask students to spend a few minutes looking closely at this image, then discuss as a class: What details stand out to you in this painting? How do you interpret this woman’s expression?
  2. In pairs, have students draft questions that they would ask this woman if they could. What are you curious about in her life?

Research

Direct students to explore the Humanities Washington resource BlackPast. Ask them to search for current and historical Black women pioneers in France and former French colonies to explore the evolution of life for women of African descent in French societies. Possible figures to explore:

• Leopoldine Emma Doualla Bell Smith
• Rokhaya Diallo
• Christiane Taubira
• Véronique de la Cruz
• Laura Élodie Flessel-Colovic

Students can present their research on their selected individual and discuss the barriers that she broke, as well as the obstacles that she may have continued (or continues) to face in French society.

Connections

  • How does this painting compare to Théodore Géricault’s Study of the Model Joseph? Consider the historical context of each painting’s creation, in the early 19th century (Géricault) vs. the late 19th century (Bazille). What feelings does each painting evoke? Which individual do you feel a stronger connection to and why?
  • Pair a discussion of this image with research on the work of French activist Assa Traoré. Who are the women calling for change in your own communities?

Resources

National Humanities Center—Journal of Charlotte Foten
Black French Women and the Struggle for Equality—Felix Germain and Silyane Larcher
Vénus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in 19th-Century France—Robin Mitchell