Reading the Scriptures 1874

Thomas Waterman Wood created this watercolor entitled ‘Reading the Scriptures’ in 1874. It depicts an elderly African American man seated and absorbed in a large book. Wood produced this image less than a decade after the end of the American Civil War. The cultural references here are complex. Consider the historical associations of literacy for African Americans, which was legally restricted in the slave-owning South. The acquisition of reading skills could stand as a sign of emancipation. Wood made a series of paintings depicting positive images of African American life and identity. Yet, in the context of the art world and its institutions, we must ask: who was this picture for? Was Wood challenging existing social norms, or catering to the expectations of a largely white, middle-class audience? The role of the historian is to consider these social and institutional contexts, researching the artist's biography, exhibition history, and critical reception to better understand its meaning.