“Ellis, Field hand”

From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information

About this item

George Fuller (1822-1884) of Deerfield, Massachusetts, journeyed through the Deep South three times in the 1850s. An artist, Fuller hoped to make money as an itinerant portrait painter. An economic depression in 1857, resulted in slow business for Fuller; he reported to his half-brother Augustus in 1858 that “The ‘hard times’ have made people in Alabama afraid to expend much money in pictures.” Fewer portrait commissions allowed Fuller time to begin planning a series of paintings depicting southern African Americans. Fuller was well situated to study what he referred to as “negro character and his relations”. The enslaved outnumbered Whites in Montgomery County, Alabama by a ratio of two to one. Fuller kept his antislavery views to himself while in the South, noting that “People here are very sensitive on home questions.” This drawing, labeled “Ellis, Field Hand,” was one of about thirty sketches Fuller drew of enslaved people and plantation life.

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Details

Item typeArtwork
Drawing
CreatorFuller, George
Date1856–1858
PlaceAlabama
TopicSlavery, Indenture
African American, Black Life
EraNational Expansion and Reform, 1816–1860
MaterialPaper
Process/FormatGraphite, pencil; Ink
Dimension detailsHeight: 5.50 in Width: 10.75 in
Catalog #1994.20.03.33
View this item in our curatorial database →
Fuller, George. Ellis, Field hand. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1994-20-03-33/. Accessed on December 7, 2024.

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