Untitled Painter (2009)

This painting features a Black woman sitting in front of a large canvas, with her face stone-cold serious, peering into the viewers eyes, her hands holding a brush and pallet clearly working on a self portrait in the form of paint by number which is unfinished. The woman is dressed in a traditional painter's attire, poised and appearing confident in an environment that suggests an artist’s studio.

National Portrait Gallery, London, United Kingdom. Untitled (Painter) 2009 artist Kerry James Marshall

The use of bright colors in the background contrasts with the darker tones of the woman, creating a visual hierarchy.  This painting reflects Marshall’s commentary on the absence of Black artists from the traditional canon of Western art.

Fierros, Cristabell. "Blackness Portraiture: Kerry James Marshall’s African American Art." The Time is Always Now, 12 Mar. 2024, https://medium.com/the-time-is-always-now/blackness-portraiture-kerry-james-marshalls-african-american-modern-western-history-art-8b38278079c4.