Picking Cotton 1926

"Picking Cotton," a 1926 painting by Hale Woodruff, portrays the harsh reality of sharecropping in the American South. The painting depicts a group of African American individuals working in a cotton field, their bodies bent over as they laboriously pick the fluffy white cotton. Woodruff, a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance, uses this work to highlight the systemic inequalities faced by Black Americans during this era. The painting’s vibrant colors and stylized forms create a stark contrast between the beauty of the cotton and the grueling labor required to harvest it, emphasizing the plight of those who labored under oppressive conditions.