Free! 1863

Editor: This is "Free!" by Henry Louis Stephens. The print shows a formerly enslaved man with his arms raised in triumph. The figure's dynamic pose and the word "Free!" printed at the bottom certainly evoke a powerful sense of liberation. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The composition strikes me as particularly compelling. Notice the juxtaposition of the figure against the backdrop of both a Union encampment on the left and what appears to be a plantation landscape to the right. Stephens uses these visual elements to create a binary; the tension between slavery and freedom is articulated through spatial arrangement. Editor: That makes sense. So, the formal elements create a visual argument? Curator: Precisely. The artist uses contrasting visual vocabularies to speak to larger ideological conflicts. The figure’s muscularity and upward gaze enhance the formal elements. Editor: That's such a helpful way to understand how the artist is thinking. Thanks!