Visual Analysis
GETTIN' RELIGION by Archibald Motley
The modern art piece that I have chosen to analyze after visiting the Whitney Museum is Gettin’ Religion by Archibald Motley. Drawing inspiration from neighborhoods just south of Chicago’s main business district, Motley created an iconic Chicago street scene representing African American urban life. The 1948 painting depicts the street bustling with people including young couples, the elderly, musicians, children and people dressed for an evening out on the town. I came across this painting on the seventh floor in Whitney’s Collection of Selections from 1900 to 1965 and was completely captivated by the colors of the painting. It appeared as if the painting was glowing and the luminosity of the streetlamp in the painting was lighting the entire room of the museum. Archibald Motley's brilliant painting skills and use of the visual elements helped bring to life the African American community in the early 1900s.
Archibald Motley's Gettin' Religion is one from his series of genre paintings as it depicts a scene of everyday life for the African American community. This painting focuses during an era in history known as the Harlem Renaissance, which was a broad cultural movement that spread far beyond across the country than the Manhattan neighborhood for which it was named after. Motley illustrates black social life during the movement as he paints a bustling street under a starlit indigo night. The format that Motley chose for this painting is a horizontal rectangle to emphasize the vast crowd of different people on the street at night. In this mesmerizing night scene, Motley depicts an evangelical black preacher, children, dog-walkers, musicians, passionate couples and intrigued neighbors leaning out of windows or on porches.
Motley achieved this magnificent depiction of African culture as a result of the materials he utilized throughout. This piece of art has a smooth texture and no visible brushstrokes. This appearance was created by using oil paint on linen and making repetitive brush strokes, in an attempt to blend the colors. In addition, a crucial visual element of this painting is color. Motley dramatizes the liveliness of this night scene by incorporating bright paints rather than dark paints to depict a night sky. Motley employs oil paints and casts the scene in shades of deep indigo, with highlights of red in the women’s shoes and dresses, fluorescent white in the streetlamp, muted gold in the trumpet and soft bronze to make the characters’ skin shine. Motley's use of vivid, bright colors is what drew my eyes to his piece of art. the paints he used initially made me think that there was a spotlight shining over it. The intensity of white used to paint the streetlamp is strong, which enhances the element of luminosity in the painting. Motley paints the streetlamp to create the illusion of light appearing within the painting. The bright colors are intensified by this play of artificial light and moonlight which Motley tried to simulate. By juxtaposing the brightness of the fluorescent white with the deep indigo night sky, Motley strengthens the illusion and makes it appear to the viewers as if the streetlamp is actually on and illuminating the street. The bronze highlights that Motley adds to the characters’ skin also contribute to this illusion as it seems to be a reflection of the streetlamp glowing in the night.
The visual element of line is evident through the buildings in the background behind the people on the streets. The roof of the house, windows, the market, and the apartment building are all painted with straight lines and as a result, are all closed shapes with definite edges. The slanting lines, which make up the roof of the house outlines the structure of the house and enable the viewer to visualize the house without it being camouflaged with the night sky. The vertical straight lines that make up the apartment building and market gives these buildings structure and definition. The slanting lines and vertical lines all provide sharp and precise edges, which therefore gives the illusion of depth as they appear to be more upfront. Lastly, the streetlamp post is one of the most outstanding lines and this thick line not only gives the lamp magnitude in terms of size but also leads the eyes of the viewer to go up to notice the glowing light.
Motley creates the illusion of depth with the help of several additional techniques including overlapping, shading and scale changes. The overlapping in this work of art is evident with the streetlamp covering a part of the house and some characters covering each other. This technique of overlapping creates an illusion of depth as it makes certain objects appear farther back compared to the object on top. Motley adds to this illusion with scale changes as he paints characters of different sizes. The people looking out from the windows and by the porch of the house appear to be much smaller in size compared to the characters in the foreground. Naturally, when objects are smaller, they are father away; therefore, the smaller people uncover to the viewers that they are at a great distance away. In addition to the illusion of depth, Motley also makes the preacher to be the largest character to emphasize the fact that he is the most important character in the painting. The large African American preacher is the focal point of the painting as he stands on a podium that says "Jesus Saves". Motley employs the technique of scale and proportion to get viewers should move their eyes to this large character. Lastly, the artist employs the technique of shading to create the illusion of volume as well as depth. Shading in this painting is evident along the side of the building, side of the streetlamp post, on the characters’ bodies and the edging of the roof. On the side of the building, Motley uses another dark shade of indigo to create the illusion that the building is 3-D. The front of the building being a lighter shade of indigo makes it appear to be popping out in front and the side to have a natural shadow cast over it. Similarly, he also uses a darker shade along the side of the post and the characters’ bodies to mimic the appearance of the objects having shape.