Smarthistory – Hale Woodruff, The Banjo Player

Hale Woodruff, Banjo Player

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Question 1

Woodruff’s painting subverts the racist stereotypes of his subject matter in all of the following ways except:

A	Woodruff does not depict the figure as a caricature with exaggerated features or include any derogatory text.
B	Through dynamic brushstrokes and a bold composition, Woodruff portrays a confident and accomplished musician worthy of celebration rather than derision.
C	Woodruff presents the banjo player on his own, with no implication that he is performing for, or in service of, others.
D	Woodruff made this painting in Paris where Black artists felt greater respect and freedom from racial prejudice.

Question 2

What aspects of The Banjo Player reflect modernist influences Woodruff would have gained during his time in Paris?

A	The visible use of blocks of color to define forms and the flat background with decorative patterning.
B	The choice of a genre scene, of an unnamed musician, as his subject matter.
C	Woodruff’s use of paint directly from the tube rather than mixing his own colors.
D	Woodruff’s attempt to align the immediacy of his painting style with the fleeting qualities of music.

Question 3

Why does the speaker in the video describe the painting as having “ambiguity”?

A	It’s unclear if the musician is singing as he plays his instrument.
B	The flat, nondescript background makes it hard to discern where the banjo player is located and if there might be an audience listening to him perform.
C	Because Woodruff, a Black man, painted a subject that was still used in 1929 to perpetuate racist stereotypes of Black people.
D	The painting invites us to wonder how a still image can capture something as fleeting as live music.

Question 4

What is the effect of the “impasto” and “scumbling” that Woodruff used to make the painting?

A	The painting is considered unfinished because the surface doesn’t appear smooth.
B	The marks of making the painting are visible to the viewer, creating a sense of vibrancy and energy to the composition.
C	These strategies dull the surface of the painting and create the appearance of a varnish that has darkened over time.
D	The thickness and texture of the paint create heightened shadows which distort the illusionism of the scene.

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Key Points

The banjo and the image of the banjo player are inextricably linked to African American history. The banjo is a westernized version of a gourd instrument from West Africa.
The figure of the Black banjo player proliferated as a racist stereotype in popular imagery and minstrelsy throughout the antebellum period and well into the Jim Crow era. Paintings like The Banjo Player, however, served to counter such demeaning portrayals and reframe Black representation by celebrating the musician as both dignified and accomplished.
The Banjo Player displays the exceptional talents of a young Hale Woodruff, working in Paris at the time and influenced by the work of Paul Cézanne as well as cubism and photographic portraiture.

Go Deeper

Learn more about Hale Woodruff

Learn about Henry Ossawa Tanner’s The Banjo Lesson (1893)

Leo G. Mazow, ed. Picturing the Banjo (University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2006)

Laurent Dubois, The Banjo (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016)

More to Think About

Look closely at the painting and explore the brushstrokes, colors, and forms of the composition. How does the style and quality of the painting contribute to the characterization of this banjo player?

Can you think of other examples of visual artists from marginalized communities reclaiming their representation through their imagery? How did they accomplish this? Share and discuss your answers with the class.

Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:

[flickr_tags user_id=”82032880@N00″ tags=”HaleBanjo,”]

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Hale Woodruff, The Banjo Player

Hale Woodruff, Banjo Player

Key Points

Go Deeper

More to Think About

Smarthistory images for teaching and learning:

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