Description
Set in rural Long Island before the Civil War, Mount's complex painting presents an African American laborer listening intently to a fiddle tune enjoyed by white men. While a love of music unites the figures in a bond of shared humanity, the two races occupy different spaces--one inside, one outside, both separated by a barn door--effectively symbolizing the pronounced divisions in America at the time.
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio (1991-); (James H. Maroney, Jr., Leicester, VT, and Christie's, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (1990-1991); The Century Association, New York, NY (1880-1990); Gideon Lee, Jr. [1824-1894], Carmel, NY? (1870-1880); Mrs. Gideon Lee [d. 1870], Geneva, NY, probably by descent to her stepson, Gideon Lee, Jr. (1859-1870); Charles M. Leupp [1807-1859], New York, NY (-1859); Laura (Mrs. Gideon) Lee [1800-1870], Geneva, NY, to her son-in-law, Charles M. Leupp (1847-)
Accession Number
1991.110
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 67 x 78 x 7.5 cm (26 3/8 x 30 11/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 43.4 x 53.5 cm (17 1/16 x 21 1/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
