Black Boys 1938

Dorrit Black's 'Black Boys' presents us with stylized figures amidst abstracted trees, rendered with the bold colors of modernism. The trees, with their simplified forms, remind us of the 'Tree of Life,' a motif stretching back to ancient Assyrian art. Their presence here speaks to the continuity of life and the cycle of growth, decay, and rebirth. The figures themselves, though abstract, are reminiscent of archaic depictions of the human form – echoes of ancient Egyptian art and Greek vase paintings, where simplified, symbolic representations conveyed deep cultural meanings. Consider the psychological weight of these visual echoes: the 'Tree of Life' in ancient Mesopotamia symbolized immortality and knowledge, and in Black's work, it carries forward this primal association. The simplified human figures, like hieroglyphs or pictograms, engage our subconscious, tapping into a collective memory of humanity's earliest attempts to represent itself and its place in the cosmos. Thus, Black's work transcends mere representation, becoming a potent synthesis of ancient symbols and modernist expression. It reflects a cyclical progression, in which age-old symbols are reinterpreted and infused with new meaning.