Harlem + Montmartre
A damp cold weighs deeply during winter rain, chilling the broad avenues of Manhattanville. Construction sites advance beyond the Lenfest Center for the Arts—tinged Parisian gray, mirroring the climate.
Inside, a map of 19th-century Montmartre repositions us in space and time. Works by Édouard Manet, Frédéric Bazille, and others from an art scene that once radiated around the Paris hilltop, defy a long-standing European bias by creating portraits of black models—Laure, Jeanne Duval—that respect their unexoticized identities. In Posing Modernity, curator Denise Murrell disrupts a historically pale narrative with an indispensable voice, giving powerful visibility to depictions of women of color.
Through the gallery, momentum builds and equity coalesces during an American renaissance. Creatives in prewar Harlem developed an independent lexicon: Charles Alston, Ernest Crichlow, and Norman Lewis would (in the words of Alain Locke) “invest in the modern black…not only with beauty, light-heartedness, and urban sophistication but with psychological depth.” Alston’s expressive painting Girl in a Red Dress (1934) is evidence.
Inspired by Locke’s writing, Charles White—who contested whitewashed histories as a student and WPA painter in Chicago—arrived in NYC following his military service and, more recently, for a posthumous survey at the Museum of Modern Art. White’s work portrays figures imbued with dignity and grace. His drawing Oh, Mary, Don’t You Weep (1956) conjures these qualities and affirms his place among the greatest artists the US has ever produced.
Consuming art calls for space to digest it. 67 Orange Street is a gemlike Harlem lounge set in the former site of Almack’s Dance Hall, one of the city’s first black-owned businesses and once a Five Points staple. Today, the vibe is speakeasy and the cocktails reinterpret vintage recipes, often recognizing the role ingredients played in colonial trade routes. East India Trading Co. Punch blends French brandy and champagne with clove, ginger, and Batavia Arrack (an Indonesian spirit distilled from molasses and fermented rice). Reclamation and renewal: refreshing concept.
2/21/2019