Charles N, Dour

English Assignment

Charles Henry Alston. American, 1907- 1977

Girl in a Red Dress, 1934.

Art history Richard Powell describes Girl in a Red Dress as an exemplary portrayal of the “New Negro” Woman who is “defiantly black, beautiful, and feminine, yet also unsettled, mysterious and utterly modern.” Alston, a foundational figure of the Harlem Renaissance, depicts the young woman in a way that embodies the artist’s synthesis of African aesthetic (in this case resonant with Fang reliquary busts) and modernist pictorial flatness in portrayals of African American subjects. Her graceful, elongated neck and sculpturally rendered face, combined with stylized modern attire and a contemplative gaze to side, convey an enigmatic affect in which the unnamed sitter is seemingly oblivious to the viewer. Representations such as this one manifest the Harlem Renaissance philosopher Alain Locke’s exhortation that “art must discover and reveal the beauty which prejudice and caricature have overlaid.”

What draws my attention to this painting is more of a Cubism view. Firstly, what I see by looking at this picture is a beautiful young lady who is free and respected in society. This painting can be viewed as a direct representation of a female activist, in addition, this painting draws my attention to some of the reading we have covered this semester which is “Vindication of the right of Woman” and “The Right of Woman.” These readings focus on the importance of females having rights in society and not being discriminated by anyone.

Secondly, looking at the symbolic meaning of Red which stands for Love, and in my understanding, the painting of Girl in the red dress tells us how a lady should be loved and respected in society.