Early Slavery Painting Analysis

My personal initial thought was, why did a Caucasian male paint this? What significance does this pertain to him? Maybe he was just a racist dude and was a slave owner a painted a moment in which one of his slave tried to escape, I don’t know for sure and others don’t. Only he does. Aside from that, in the artwork, it is easily shown that there is an African-American male that is hiding up in the trees, purposely hiding from what looks like a group of men along with a dog and someone riding horseback. The man hiding in the tree could be the “fugitive” behind the title and the other men are out looking for him. Maybe he’s a slave and escaped from whatever owner he came from and tried to run away from the cruelty and suffering he has faced. The man is only wearing coveralls with no socks and shoes, showing that wherever he came from wasn’t the best place to be. …show more content…
It’s dark outside alone with a little breeze, making it a little cold. But, the man has a lot of coverage due to the amount of trees and forestation that he is currently surrounded by. His body position takes the appearance of the tree and the shape, with his curves matching that of the tree trunk. And what is very significant and very interesting to see in the painting is to see that the way the man is standing, it also looks like how Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross. The way the arms are pinned against the tree branches, look like Jesus’s arms against the cross. His head is positioned a way that resembles as if he is tired from running and the fear that ultimately takes over his body. Almost as if you can feel his fear that rushed through his body. The heavy breathes he was probably taking, the thoughts going through his head and the thought of life and death at the very peak of his