Name: Susan Fisher Sterling
Occupation: Director, National Museum of Women in the Arts
Residence: Potomac
What I want to tell you about this piece: The circle or “tondo” format has been popular since the Renaissance — Michelangelo’s “Holy Family” is one of the best known examples. It’s striking that Carrie Mae Weems chose a very old painting format for her photograph.
Weem’s tondo features four black girls, all very self-aware, three of whom are looking out at us. The girls are dressed in their summer best. They even have vines and flowers in their hair. They confront the viewer with their gaze — except for the one who is asleep! Their poses hearken back to Edouard Manet’s 1863 painting “Le dejeuner sur l’herbe” [“The Luncheon on the Grass”], in which you have two female figures who are nude and then a number of male figures in everyday dress, what they would wear walking down any Paris street. This combination was shocking at the time.
If we compare Weems’ work with the Manet, it’s also shocking because these clothed, young girls are looking out straight at us. As a takeoff on one of the most important paintings of the late 19th century, I think Weems is saying, “Here are African-American children taking control of how we see their image.” Unlike so many images of black children, where there is social commentary about their standing in society, these children are really telling us they are individuals. This is, to me, quite a different kind of garden party. Weems steps over all kinds of stereotypes to assert the identity and individuality of her girls. They’re not even dressed alike — and each one has her own special look.
There’s a whole body of photography and photographic criticism that talks about “the male gaze.” The Manet is from a man’s point of view. But in Weems’ work, these girls are not a voyeuristic object to be ogled. They’re looking out at us, confronting us in a very straightforward way and presenting a very positive image.
If you go
“Role Models: Feminine Identity in Contemporary American Photography”
Where: National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW
When: Through Jan. 25
Info: $10 / $8 seniors (60+) and students, free for members and children under age 18; 202-783-5000; nmwa.org
