Cigar Store Figure - Blackamoor c. 1938

Dorothy Handy made this watercolor painting of a Blackamoor cigar store figure and it’s like she’s inviting us to consider the layers of representation at play. She’s not just copying what she sees, but interpreting something already designed to catch the eye. Look closely, and you'll see the way the light catches on the figure's clothing, the subtle washes of color that give depth to the folds of his turban and sash. There's a softness to the rendering that softens the blatant history of the figure itself. The figure holds something in his hand; is it a cigar? Is it a symbol of what he's selling? I appreciate how the artist renders a subject which is already fraught with meaning, with a sensitivity to the process and the materials of painting. It puts me in mind of the work of someone like Fairfield Porter, someone else engaged with domestic scenes and the project of copying. Are we ever really copying, or are we always bringing something new to the process?