01 Classic Works of Art, Marine Paintings - With Footnotes, #18f

William Edouard Scott, 1884 - 1964

FISHERMEN

Oil on panel

17 7/8 by 22 inches, (45.4 by 55.9 cm)

Private Collection

William Edouard Scott (1884–1964) was an African-American artist. Even before Alain Locke asked African Americans to create and portray the New Negro that would thrust them into the future, artists like William Edouard Scott were depicting blacks in new ways to break away from the subjugating images of the past. William Edouard Scott, well known for his portraits, Haitian scenes, and murals, challenged the standard depiction of blacks in art in the first half of the 20th century by utilizing black subject matter in an uplifting way. However, just as his style remained traditional as opposed to abstract, he was relatively conservative in his portrayals of blackness.

Scott was born in Indianapolis in 1884. After graduating from Manual Training High School in 1903, Scott spent a year studying drawing under Otto Stark. In 1904 he moved to Chicago and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he won the Frederick Mangus Brand prize for pictorial composition. During his time in Chicago he painted murals around the city, one of which was Commerce, which is still lauded today as “remarkable”. He learned much of his palette and impressionist technique, however, during his travels to France. While abroad he studied at Académie Julien and Académie Colarossi and was mentored by Henry O. Tanner. Training in Paris, Scott was able to build a reputation for himself more easily than his race would have allowed in America. 

After his formal education was complete, Scott received a Rosenwald Foundation grant and traveled to Haiti to paint those who had “maintained their African heritage”. Later he traveled to Alabama to study blacks in different communities in the South. By refusing to paint blacks as only slaves and laborers, Scott hoped to “reverse the stereotypical perceptions of African Americans and eventually foster an understanding among the races”. More on William Edouard Scott

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