Francis William Edmonds (American,1806-1863),All Talk and No Work,1855-56,oil on canvas
Francis William Edmond's All Talk and No Work features two figures,one white and one African American,who appear to be mid-conversation outside a barn.Although both wear tattered clothing and neither is engaged in productive work,unequal power dynamics are suggested.Leaning lazily on a pitchfork,the white farmer towers over the black figure,presumably his laborer,who holds an empty basket and gestures with his other hand.
This genre evokes the work of William Sidney Mount whose farmyard subjects and anecdotal characterizations of yeomen and African Americans were highly popular with New York audiences. Edmond's treatment of the black is neither idealized in Mount's manner nor caricatured in works by other genre artists,but the painting's enigmatic visual clues might be interpreted as an attempt to justify or obscure the racism of the era.
Francis William Edmonds (American,1806-1863),All Talk and No Work,1855-56,oil on canvas
Francis William Edmond's All Talk and No Work features two figures,one white and one African American,who appear to be mid-conversation outside a barn.Although both wear tattered clothing and neither is engaged in productive work,unequal power dynamics are suggested.Leaning lazily on a pitchfork,the white farmer towers over the black figure,presumably his laborer,who holds an empty basket and gestures with his other hand.
This genre evokes the work of William Sidney Mount whose farmyard subjects and anecdotal characterizations of yeomen and African Americans were highly popular with New York audiences. Edmond's treatment of the black is neither idealized in Mount's manner nor caricatured in works by other genre artists,but the painting's enigmatic visual clues might be interpreted as an attempt to justify or obscure the racism of the era.