Johnson's Negro Life In The South

I chose to write on the topic of Johnson’s Negro Life in the South and Homer’s A Visit from the Old Mistress. As stated in the prompt for this, both paintings are open to vastly different interpretations, all of which concern proslavery and antislavery.
To start with, the first painting, Johnson’s Negro Life in the South, depicts a run down house surrounded by black people looking like they are having a great time. Children are dancing as a man plays the banjo, there are two people flirting, and overall it looks like everybody is happy. A woman is playing with a puppy and there is another woman inside the house on an upper level holding a baby outside the window so the child can see. There is one white woman coming out of a back door to the neighboring house. She is dressed rather nicely, whereas all of the other people look dirty in their raggedy clothing. …show more content…
There are a few contradicting factors in this painting that make it difficult for viewers to say whether they believe that this painting is pro slavery or anti slavery. On one hand, it looks as if everybody is happy, both the blacks and the whites. Though on the other hand, it looks as if the white woman is seventy-five percent better off than the blacks. It looks as if the black people live in the house they are in front of, however, it does not look as if the house is stable. The white woman's house is sturdy and clean, just like the clothes on her back. The situation as a whole, though, makes me feel as if these people are being treated with the respect that a person