Harvard Art Museums Tour Notes: Picasso; Wiley; Johnson

Picasso: Mother and Child (Blue Period)

• Context of the Blue Period: Picasso’s blue-toned works emerge after a personal tragedy (the suicide of a friend) and during a time of extensive travel and social observation, including time in Paris.
• Central figure analysis: In the painting, the figure in the center has a white cap and a blue robe and a tranquil, almost Marian-like expression with eyes closed and cheek resting on the baby's head.
• Possible iconography and interpretation:
  • Viewers compare the central figure to the Virgin Mary (traditional depictions include a child and a peaceful, nurturing stance).
  • The sitter is likely ill and destitute, yet radiates an aura of peace and calm.
• Context of depiction: Picasso painted this after visiting Saint-Lazare, a women’s prison hospital in Paris where sex workers detained after testing positive for venereal diseases lived under vulnerable conditions.
• Ethical considerations and method of observation:
  • Picasso allegedly used a false medical alias to observe patients at the prison hospital, which raises moral questions about consent, representation, and the gaze of the artist.
  • The slide encourages viewers to weigh the value of the insight into these lives against the potential exploitation or misrepresentation involved.
• Visual and stylistic notes:
  • The composition pairs a serene portal of humanity (mother and child) with the stark, destitute reality of the subject’s condition.
• The broader takeaway: This work raises important questions about truthfulness in representation, the ethics of “eye-witness” observation, and how personal tragedy can shape artistic direction.

Kehinde Wiley: Portraits and The Yellow Wallpaper (2020)

• Artist background and focus:
  • Kehinde Wiley (born 1977) is renowned for portraits of Black sitters in everyday street attire, drawing on art-historical poses.
  • He gained wide recognition for painting Barack Obama’s official portrait; his practice foregrounds black masculinity but this particular work foregrounds Black femininity.
• The painting: Asia Esmati, Gabriela Esme, and Kaya Palmer (Kaya is the mother on the left and right, with the two daughters flanking her) – created in 2020.
• Visual language and composition:
  • The sitters are depicted in photorealistic, life-like detail, while the background is a florid, luminous wallpaper that reads as a printed surface rather than a painted texture.
  • The oval frame is a distinctive, unusual presentation choice that sharpens the sense of portrait within a non-rectangular space.
• Background and design references:
  • The floral background is drawn from a William Morris wallpaper design called Compton (first produced in 1896), part of the Arts and Crafts movement.
  • The wallpaper’s pattern is rendered to resemble block printing, a nod to Morris’s craft-oriented approach to production.
  • The painting borrows from the series title The Yellow Wallpaper, which nods to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1892 feminist short story about a woman confined by a rest cure and a confining wallpaper that becomes a symbol of imprisonment.
• Intersections of design, gender, and politics:
  • Wiley juxtaposes the liberating potential of decor and light with Gilman’s critique of domestic confinement and gendered power.
  • The phrase The Yellow Wallpaper anchors a dialogue about how surroundings matter and how decoration can be read as empowerment or entrapment.
• Materiality and technique:
  • Background pattern appears printed; the figures themselves are highly naturalistic, creating a tension between surface design and figure realism.
  • The work references multiple media beyond painting (design, wallpaper, printmaking) while being firmly a painting.
• Thematic implications:
  • The series engages questions about representation, visibility, and the social ʻcanonʼ—who is seen, who is celebrated, and how the domestic sphere participates in racial and gendered narratives.
  • The discussion emphasizes how background design can function as a cultural commentary, rather than mere ornament.
• Audience observations and recurring ideas:
  • The background’s luminous yellow color palette, the flowers, and the way the vines/foliage interact with the figures invite discussions of space, weightlessness, and vitality.
  • The “eyes that follow you” in the rightmost figure and the sense of presence/expression in all three sitters are repeatedly noted by viewers.
  • The brown vine entwined around the right shoe became a focal point for interpretive debate (rootedness vs. constraint; empowerment vs entrapment).
• Interpretive points raised in the session:
  • Some viewers proposed rootedness and empowerment through the vines, suggesting the figures are being anchored into history and canon rather than imprisoned by it.
  • Others suggested the vines could signal constraint or encroachment, prompting ongoing discussion about how to read the spatial relationship between the figures and the background.
• Contextual synthesis:
  • Wiley’s work uses a modern-day portrait format to address historic and feminist discourses, tying Black identity, domestic space, and art-historical canons into a contemporary conversation.

Rashid Johnson: Hikers / Broken Faces Mosaic (2021)

• Artwork and date:
  • Rashid Johnson (born 1977) presents a mosaic work from the Hikers series, created in 02/2021.
• What the work looks like and what viewers notice first:
  • The work appears as a mosaic or collage of many faces, with a busy, tile-like surface.
  • Viewers often describe it as abstract, tile-like, mosaic, or mosaic-like with a crowd of faces (about 15 identifiable faces in the image).
  • The surface is perceived as both a mosaic of faces and a patchwork of materials and textures.
• Materials and technique:
  • Major components include ceramic tiles, mirrors, oyster shells, branded red oak, bronze, spray paint, oil, black soap, and wax.
  • Johnson uses a wide range of found and crafted materials and often begins with drawings, then adds layers of materials, and finally adjusts the order, sometimes burning or sealing them.
  • The materials create a tension between permanence (tiles) and impermanence (wax, lipstick, soap) highlighting the contrast between stability and fragility.
• Scale and presence:
  • The artist notes that the work is large, and the viewer’s physical presence in front of it emphasizes the vertical and expansive nature of the piece.
• Concept and themes:
  • The series centers on anxiety, social marginalization, and collective memory, exploring how individuals’ trauma is both personal and shared within a community.
  • Johnson’s concept draws on the idea of being outside or put outside, leveraging writers like Toni Morrison to discuss marginalization and reintegration.
  • The term hikers appears as a recurring motif representing movement, endurance, and the attempt to navigate collective anxiety.
• Intertextual and philosophical references:
  • Morrison’s notions of being outside versus being put outside (marginalization and potential reintegration) inform the interpretive framework for these works.
  • The use of durable materials (tiles) juxtaposed with fragile elements (wax, lipstick) suggests a commentary on permanence vs vulnerability in Black life and memory.
• Symbolic meanings of materials:
  • Oyster shells have historical associations with slave trade economies; black soap references commodification and exploitation of African cultures/resources; shells and other materials symbolize power, commerce, and cultural residues.
  • The combination of hard, durable elements with soft, transient ones creates a complex symbolic landscape about resilience, memory, and trauma.
• Formal and compositional observations:
  • The diagonal slash cutting through the mosaic acts as a “scar” or “bandage,” interrupting the uniformity and inviting interpretation of fracture, repair, or interruption within collective memory.
• Critical interpretation and discussion:
  • Johnson’s work presents anxiety as something layered and distributed across individuals, while also pointing to a shared condition that shapes a broader social experience.
  • The external exterior (tiles, public spaces) contrasts with the internal emotional states (trauma, grief, fear), highlighting a dynamic interplay between outer form and inner life.
• Viewer engagement and dialogue during the tour:
  • Questions about why the diagonal occurs, how to read the various materials, and how to interpret the relationship between the faces and the rest of the mosaic.
  • The host discusses possible readings of both the mosaic’s surface and its implied narrative about outside forces and internal states.

Audience Q&A, Themes, and Ethical Reflections

• On representation and objectification:
  • A participant asked whether Black people, like wallpaper, were historically treated as home décor or decorative objects.
  • The discussion emphasized that Wiley’s work invites critical reflection on objectification, minstrelsy, and the placement of Black bodies within domestic and artistic canons.
• Reading the details: vines on the Wiley painting and the shoes:
  • The brown vine around the right shoe sparked debate about empowerment vs. entrapment; some viewers read it as rootedness in history and inclusion in the canon, while others saw it as a constraint.
  • Observations about the shoes’ hyperrealism and the Nike logo drew attention to how foreground realism contrasts with the decorative background.
• The broader ethical lens:
  • Viewers considered how surrounding aesthetics ( wallpaper, décor) interact with social histories of race, labor, gender, and power.
  • The discussion underscored the importance of considering the subjects’ perspective and life contexts in representation.
• Logistics and next steps for the program:
  • The session noted that Hope Family Student Guide tours run in the spring on Thursdays at 08:00, with Maeve presenting the following week on the theme of staging (Thursday, the 17th).
  • Recordings of the talk are posted to the museum’s YouTube page; a dedicated video page is also provided for access.

Connections, Contexts, and Practical Takeaways

• Cross-pollination of themes:
  • Both Wiley and Johnson foreground how background or surrounding media contribute to meaning, whether through decorative wallpaper (Wiley) or mosaic tessellations and found materials (Johnson).
  • Both artists address issues of visibility, representation, and the politics of gaze in contemporary art.
• Foundational ideas and real-world relevance:
  • The Yellow Wallpaper reference connects design and domestic space to broader feminist critiques of confinement, autonomy, and self-representation.
  • The discussion of outside vs. put outside borrows from literary theory to illuminate how marginalized groups navigate systems of visibility and exclusion.
• Form and technique as message:
  • The contrast between photorealistic figures and printed-like backgrounds (Wiley) versus the tactile, mixed-material, and patchworked surfaces (Johnson) demonstrates how material choices encode social commentary.
• Takeaway for exam-ready understanding:
  • Be able to articulate how background design functions as a social commentary in Wiley’s painting and how Johnson uses a mosaic of materials to symbolize collective anxiety and resilience.
  • Be prepared to discuss ethical considerations in artist observation and representation, especially regarding vulnerable subjects and the autonomy of those depicted.
• Quick reference points to remember:
  • The Yellow Wallpaper reference: pattern Compton by William Morris, first produced in 1896; Gilman’s 1892 short story on confinement and wallpaper as metaphor for imprisonment.
  • Wiley’s sitters are drawn from street life in East London; the series foregrounds Black femininity and critiques decoration’s role in representation.
  • Johnson’s materials list includes ceramic tiles, mirrors, oyster shells, branded red oak, bronze, spray paint, oil, black soap, and wax; the diagonal slash is a key interpretive element.

Tour Logistics and Next Sessions

• Next sessions: Hope Family Student Guide tours resume on Thursdays at 08:00; the upcoming topic and presenter details (e.g., Maeve, theme staging) are posted in program announcements.
• Accessibility: Recordings of live talks are posted to the Harvard Art Museums YouTube channel and the museum’s video page for later viewing.