Frederick Douglass Through Art?
After viewing Jacob Lawrence's Art
addressing Frederick Douglass, what are you thinking about the artists
message and how it depicts Frederick Douglass and his message? Please
respond by 2:30p.m. on Wed., Mar. 21st.
posted by Greg T at Sunday, March 18, 2018
29 Comments:
After looking at the artists drawing and such about Frederick Douglass it makes it even more clear how disgusting slavery was. It is harding reading the graphic words about what happened to him but seeing a drawing and seeing the words come to life is even harder to bear. It is uncomfortable looking at those drawings because it is crazy how this was allowed to happen in the united states in the past. The fact that real people were treated like this is so sad. And as hard as it is to see those visuals it is good to be able to visualize how dehumanizing and terrible slavery was.
These paintings are deliberately poor. They remain grotesque and distorted. It is clear that they were done hurriedly. I don't think it really fits the mood of the book. The book is clean and analytical, as if to dispel the stereotypes that could be applied to Fredrick.
After observing the art, I realized how truly horrible slavery is. Seeing the art puts it into picture, how disgusting, painful, and just horrible slavery was. Slaves were treated so badly and that is shown in this art. Through Frederick Douglass' text and the art, I now can realize in depth how disgusting slavery was and how horrible slaves had it in terms of punishment, lack of freedom, etc. that was placed upon them.
While looking at the drawings about Fredrick Douglass, we can see like a story being told. We see that the struggles he faces, and how terrible slavery is. It does also show the accomplishments he has gone through. It terrible the way they were treated, and how nothing changed for hundreds of years.
Lawrence’s images depict Frederick Douglass as a man of extreme and opposite environments. Growing up enslaved shows him at his smallest amount of freedom, while his conversations with British philosophers and Lincoln show him as a free, influential, and powerful man. This stark contrast does a good job illustrating the potential for slaves to become powerful when they were liberated and re-affirming the idea that they were unjustly put in their place of servitude. I believe this type of thinking embodies Douglass’s message and narrative.
After looking at Jacob Lawrence's images I think that he fully demonstrates Frederick Douglass' story. He can not depict every detail, because he did not live his story. Lawrence did his research so that he understands Douglass' perspective.
Looking at Jacob Lawrence's images I think that he is able to portray Frederick Douglass's story as if he was drawing the pictures with little detail to make it look like someone who had very little parctive in art. Even with this technique of art the artist was still able to convey the message of Frederick Douglass.
I think that the artists message is that slavery was a really horrible crazy thing. And that it depects Frederick Douglas's message very well which is almost the same thing. These painting show his doing nice things and also suffering horrible things that happened.
After looking at the images, I'm even more baffled by the story and how this is our past. The Frederick Douglass book is horrifying, but to see the images is even more sad. Also, I noticed how hard it was to see detail, yet how much I understood what was going on. It's all just awful what Frederick Douglass's life must have been like, and then to think of how many others there were with that exact life. It's beyond me how something like that was once justifiable, and I don't see how people just didn't have any mercy. Where's the empathy? Where's the guilt? I look at those pictures and I'm immediately taken-aback into utter silence, so how could somebody look at the real situation in real life and just accept it. It sound disgusting to me.
I think that the art portrays Fredrick Douglas's life very accurately. Fredrick Douglas is a very powerful man that has gone through many struggles due to his slavery and background. The art shows his different environments such as the restrictions slavery has had on him and when he was educated and how he is a very strong man. I think that slavery is very unreasonable and these paintings show that, slavery is not an option and it isn't expectable to treat people like that.
I think the artist's message does a good job of showing Frederick Douglass and his story. They really help visualize what Frederick Douglass was actually going through. I thought it was interesting how each picture seemed to use a similar color scheme. Also, the drawings weren’t the most detailed until the end pictures of the people's individual portraits.
I think that This artist shows the details of Frederick Douglass' life very well, however, I think that it didn't show his emotions as well, which would have been very useful to show Douglass' thoughts throughout his life. I slos think that it could have shown more of the pains that the slaves had to go through seeing as his message was that putting slaves through this is terrible and is against the idea that all humans matter.
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The artist of these paintings definitely grasped the very issues that Frederick Douglass encountered. The emotions portrayed in these paintings make me wonder if someone could even transfer the anger, fear, sadness that Frederick Douglass felt at the time of his captivity. However, I feel that art has many different levels of interpretation; different for all, so that leaves the individual viewer to cast their own opinions. The color schemes of the paintings are what I actually noticed first. I found it interesting that the landscape/background had darker and less distracting colors, whereas the characters in the paintings have more color on or around them. This makes me feel like the artist was trying to convey that even through such a dark and miserable time, the people who were being enslaved had so much potential to become greater than anyone had imagined.
After looking at the pictures I think it shows what Ferric Douglass went through. I think it helps you put pictures to the stories he has told. I also thought it was cool how each picture showed a different story. They both showed me how truly bad the slaves were taught and the pictures helped show the pain the slaves went through.
I noticed that the artist has a very interesting, almost kid like style. I think that style gives the pictures a very straightforward and raw depiction of Frederick Douglass's story. The artist makes it clear that slavery is evil and gruesome.
The message depicts Fredrick Douglass as very straight forward and honest. It make it clear how bad slavery is.
Looking at these pictures allowed people to understand the view of Fredrick Douglass. It shows that nothing good comes from slavery and that it's full of evil. This artist was very good at expressing the view Fredrick Douglass's view on slavery.
After looking at the photos, I have come to find the understanding of Douglass and what he went through. Slavery is not ok, and with the photos, you can see that.
After looking through the pictures, I have a more complete of how horrible slavery was, and part of Frederick Douglass' viewpoint. The artist does a thorough job of conveying Douglass' viewpoint.
The basic design of the drawings emphasizes the cruelty of slavery. The darkness of the imagery explains how slaves were treated and how cruel masters were to them.
These paintings portray the harsh life of an African American during this time period. Working for countless hours a day under a blazing hot sun without basic resources like food or water. Chained up and dragged through the mud by a horse, as they're transported from various plantations within the United States. These paintings show nothing less than a dark and horrific time in our nations history. Or does it? Or does it show the evolution of a man and him overcoming the torturous, monstrous humanity that surrounded the United States?
After looking at the artists drawing and such about Frederick Douglass it makes it even more clear how disgusting slavery was. It is harding reading the graphic words about what happened to him but seeing a drawing and seeing the words come to life is even harder to bear. It is uncomfortable looking at those drawings because it is crazy how this was allowed to happen in the united states in the past. The fact that real people were treated like this is so sad. And as hard as it is to see those visuals it is good to be able to visualize how dehumanizing and terrible slavery was.
The artwork expresses the same struggle that Frederick Douglass did in his narative. The artist shows in illustrated detail the pain and suffering of an African American slave during segregation. These pieces of art show and remind us how cruel slavery and discrimination is.
After looking at Jacob Lawrence art I think that he portrayed the life of Frederick Douglass well. It showed the hardships he went through. It cannot be 100% accurate because he did not live Douglass life.
After looking at the artwork, it can connect to Frederick Douglass and how horrific his life was like. We can visually see how much Douglass and others struggled. It was a terrible time for all slaves back then. The art allows us to see how hard it was for slaves back then.
First person accounts are obviously wonderful illustrators of the suffering of slaves during this time period. However, the artist is able to, through his medium, solidify the horrors of slavery. The art's dark colors and seemingly cramped imagery works to convey the restrictions and the treatment of slaves as derelict and disposable by their masters.
After looking at the artwork, now I can really visualize how dehumanized Frederick Douglas and slaves everywhere were. In one of the pictures, there are slaves handcuffed and the owners dragging them along. This is portrayed how slaves were treating like animals, because we can compare that to even a dog on a leash. They worked countless hours to earn next to nothing and this artwork reminds us how terrible this time truly was for Frederick Douglas and slaves around the world everyday.
Jacob Lawrence's art is very simple and straightforward. I would compare his artistic style to a child's, because of his use of color and the way he draws out the people. I really think this style helps him to accurately depict the story of Frederick Douglass because it shows how simply and straightforwardly evil slavery was. There are no "shades of gray" it is completely black and white (not literally). The images really help to fully show the brutality of Frederick Douglass's life.
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