Throughout history, the naked form has been a source of artistic fascination. From the rock paintings in Southern African caves to depictions of folklore and religious figures in European museums, the human body in the nude has been a consistent subject of interest, particularly the naked female form.
This article delves into the complex and often troubling history of naked African art, focusing on the representation and objectification of Black women. It examines how historical illustrations, scientific studies, and contemporary art reflect and challenge the prevailing attitudes towards Black female bodies.
Portrait of a Black Woman by Marie-Guillemine Benoist
The "Hottentot Venus" and the Objectification of Sara Baartman
Sara Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman born around 1789, was exhibited as a freak show attraction in 19th-century Europe under the name "Hottentot Venus." This name, later attributed to other similarly exhibited women, highlighted the European fascination with her physical features, particularly her large buttocks. The term "Hottentot" was a Dutch-colonial era term for the indigenous Khoikhoi people of southwestern Africa.
Baartman's story is a stark example of the exploitation and objectification of African women. She spent her childhood and teenage years on Dutch European farms. A free black trader named Peter Cesars encouraged her to move to Cape Town. She lived in Cape Town for at least two years working as a washerwoman and nursemaid. Dunlop, a Scottish military surgeon in the Cape slave lodge, operated a side business in supplying animal specimens to showmen in Britain, and he suggested she travel to Europe to make money by exhibiting herself. Baartman refused at first, but eventually agreed on the condition that Hendrik Cesars accompany her.
Read also: The History of Black African Men in Art
In 1810, Hendrik Cesars and Alexander Dunlop brought Baartman to London. Dunlop exhibited Baartman at the Egyptian Room at the London residence of Thomas Hope. Her large buttocks were viewed as grotesque, lascivious, and obscene, fueling public interest. She became known as the "Hottentot Venus" (as was at least one other woman, in 1829).
A British abolitionist society, the African Association, conducted a newspaper campaign for her release. The British abolitionist Zachary Macaulay led the protest. The case was therefore dismissed. The publicity given by the court case increased Baartman's popularity as an exhibit. She later toured other parts of England and was exhibited at a fair in Limerick, Ireland in 1812.
A man called Henry Taylor took Baartman there around September 1814. Taylor then sold her to a man sometimes reported as an animal trainer, S. Réaux, but whose name was actually Jean Riaux and belonged to a ballet master who had been deported from the Cape Colony for seditious behaviour. Riaux exhibited her under more pressured conditions for 15 months at the Palais Royal in Paris. In Paris, her exhibition became more clearly entangled with scientific racism.
French scientists were curious about whether she had the elongated labia which earlier naturalists such as François Levaillant had purportedly observed other Khoekhoe women to have at the Cape. French naturalists, among them Georges Cuvier, head keeper of the menagerie at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and founder of the discipline of comparative anatomy, visited her. She was brought out as an exhibit at wealthy people's parties and private salons.
Baartman died on 29 December 1815 around age 26, of an undetermined inflammatory ailment, possibly smallpox, while other sources suggest she contracted syphilis, or pneumonia. Cuvier, who had met Baartman, notes in his monograph that its subject was an intelligent woman with an excellent memory, particularly for faces. Despite this, Cuvier interpreted her remains as evidencing ape-like traits.
Read also: Customs Regarding Dress in Kenya
Saint-Hilaire applied on behalf of the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle to retain her remains (Cuvier had preserved her brain, genitalia and skeleton), on the grounds that it was of a singular specimen of humanity and therefore of special scientific interest. The application was approved and Baartman's skeleton and body cast were displayed in Muséum d'histoire naturelle d’Angers. Her skull was stolen in 1827 but returned a few months later.
From the 1940s, there were sporadic calls for the return of her remains. A poem written in 1998 by South African poet Diana Ferrus, herself of Khoekhoe descent, titled "I've come to take you home", played a pivotal role in spurring the movement to bring Baartman's remains back to her birth soil. After the victory of the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1994 South African general election, President Nelson Mandela formally requested that France return the remains. After much legal wrangling and debates in the French National Assembly, France acceded to the request on 6 March 2002.
Caricature of Saartjie Baartman
The Intersection of Art and Scientific Racism
Julien-Joseph Virey used Sarah Baartman's published image to validate typologies. In his essay "Dictionnaire des sciences medicales", he summarizes the true nature of the black female within the framework of accepted medical discourse. Virey focused on identifying her sexual organs as more developed and distinct in comparison to white female organs.
Travelogues that circulated in Europe would describe Africa as being "uncivilised" and lacking regard for religious virtue. Travelogues and imagery depicting Black women as "sexually primitive" and "savage" enforced the belief that it was in Africa's best interest to be colonised by European settlers.
Read also: American Golfer Chad Collins
During the lengthy negotiation to have Baartman's body returned to her home country after her death, the assistant curator of the Musée de l'Homme, Philippe Mennecier, argued against her return, stating: "We never know what science will be able to tell us in the future. If she is buried, this chance will be lost..."
Contemporary Reinterpretations
Many African female diasporic artists have criticised the traditional iconography of Baartman. According to the studies of contemporary feminists, traditional iconography and historical illustrations of Baartman are effective in revealing the ideological representation of black women in art throughout history. Renee Cox, Renée Green, Joyce Scott, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems and Deborah Willis are artists who seek to investigate contemporary social and cultural issues that still surround the African female body.
Sander Gilman, a cultural and literary historian states: "While many groups of African Blacks were known to Europeans in the 19th century, the Hottentot remained representative of the essence of the Black, especially the Black female." Lyle Ashton Harris and Renee Valerie Cox worked in collaboration to produce the photographic piece Hottentot Venus 2000. "Permitted" is an installation piece created by Renée Green inspired by Sarah Baartman.
Black Female Sexualization in Art History
Primarily, works of art that play a tremendous factor in the objectification of Baartman and several other African women, are the illustrations, postcards, and advertisements created of them. Within a feminist methodology viewpoint, it is interesting to see these drawings through the lens that considers the socio-economic position of women being represented.
She faces towards the right and is practically nude. The illustration conveys her with exaggerated buttocks and minimal clothing. Additionally, the few things she does have on are feathers in her hair, straw wrapped around her knees, and a piece of cloth hanging in front of her torso. She is also wearing a headband with a tribal-looking print on it while she smokes a pipe. This entire illustration completely amplifies the idea that African women are foreign, exotic, and zoo-like creatures that are to be exhibited. She is also holding a spear. This spear adds to the idea of Baartman being tribal and exotic and worth being shown off in an exhibition like an animal.
However, this illustration shows her simply standing upright, feet together, facing to the right, avoiding eye contact. This couldn’t be less of an intimidating stance or expression from her. She is holding a weapon, yet she is not showing aggression or proving to be a threat in any way shape or form. Therefore, it is clear that the spear is only a prop to further the exploitation of this tribal, fetishized version of Sarah Baartman.
Just like Baartman, several African women were drawn or photographed, later on, and presented as things to be objectively admired. This brings us into the subject of the sexualization of black women and its origins.
Historically, white has represented purity, civilization, and beauty. To counteract this, black has been seen to be impure, criminal, and undesirable. These words being associated with these colors is incredibly prominent during this time period and during the slave trade. To start, it is no secret that women were expected to be very modest during this time period according to European and western standards. Women would wear dresses that covered them head to toe and the exposed skin was limited to face, arms, and hands. Or at least, this was expected of white women. Black women, in the slave trade, were auctioned naked while slave owners went around examining and groping them correlating to the idea that white is pure and black is not. The auctions were a physical representation of how black is considered to be precisely impure.
African women’s roles in their culture were also seen as sexual from the start. In many areas, there was minimal clothing due to the hot climate and some cultures even had polyamorous unions. This caused Europeans to identify African women as inherently sexual beings. Therefore, during slavery, the thought that African women were incredibly sexual was often used to excuse the fact that many were raped by their owners.
It is unfortunate to continue to see these trends in different forms today. Black girls and women are still sexualized from a young age due to these origins. In movies, we often see black women to be similar characters that are not multifaceted. They are single mothers with several children, maybe even with several different men. They often don’t have jobs and are sexualized by showing off their bodies.
All in all, it is disheartening to see the history of exploiting black female bodies for white pleasure.
Baartman died only at the age of 26 years old. After being forced to perform in these shows around Europe, she passed away in 1815 to which was written off as alcoholism. After her death, which took place in Paris, France, her body was then taken by Georges Cuvier. Georges Cuvier was a French naturalist and zoologist. When obtaining Sarah Baartman’s body, he dissected it. He dissected her brains and her genitals. Before doing this, however, he made a plaster mold of her body.
This mold is an art piece that was displayed in Paris’ Museum of Man. This piece is uncomfortably realistic. Her body is displayed standing upright and completely naked, her skin has several areas covered in stretch marks, like any living woman and her eyes are shut. The eyes being shut signifying that she is dead brings up the question of respect. Typically when a person dies, they close their eyes to symbolize them resting. To keep their eyes open would be disrespectful because one would not be allowing them to rest now that they are gone.
However, why is Sarah Baartman only shown the slightest bit of respect in one area but not all when she dies? She is respected enough to have her eyes be closed, yet not respected enough to be buried formally or at the very least returned to her family. This seems to be grotesque and goes to show the lengths, at this time, white people would go to to objectify black female bodies for their personal gain. The fact that this mold of her is also completely nude continues to prove how little they thought of her life and body.
The fact that throughout her life on Earth she was examined, sexualized, and treated like an object, would make one think that after her death, she would finally get some privacy. However, Cuvier made sure for that not to happen. With this mold, her body continued to be looked at, judged and dehumanized against her will. It was not until 2002 that Baartman’s body would be returned home and buried.
Lastly, another art piece that is much more recent, but can definitely be interpreted within this context is Damsel created by Tschabalala Self. Self’s artwork is often paintings in which she depicts black women. In this painting, a curvy black woman, much similar to Baartman’s body type, is standing in the nude facing us. Looking closely, half of her face seems to be covered in makeup and she has a happy expression while the other side of her face is crying. Additionally, parts of her body have dark skin. Her arms and legs are clearly black, however the central part of her body is a lighter tone, almost resembling a white person, or at least a light skin person.
She has one hand by her face in a dramatic way, and the other rested by her side. Assumingly, the different skin tones symbolize different things. Through iconography and as stated before, it is known that white represents purity and goodness. Therefore, the lighter the skin tone, the better. This painted woman in Self’s piece had dark arms, hands, and feet. However, her body parts that are perceived to be sexual, such as her genitalia, breasts, and buttocks are this lighter color.
This conflicts with what it is known about the symbol of purity being light. This painting was created in 2019, but the sexualization of black women has continued throughout centuries. I believe that the lighter skin tones resemble that white people, or society that is dominated by white interpretation, still has an ownership mentality of black female bodies. In a way, this white societal misconception of black women being inherently hyper sexual still is expected today; therefore, her sexual body still belongs to the "white man," hence her tears.
Even the title "Damsel" seems to signify that she is in distress and/or in need of help because something or someone is keeping her down.
Tschabalala Self at Eva Presenhuber Gallery Zurich
Conclusion
Sarah Baartman’s story is an essential piece of history to understand this. Illustrations of Sarah Baartman embodying an "exotic" woman that is seen almost as a zoo animal shows the aspersion of black female bodies. With the feminism methodology, it is obvious that her race and gender do not grant her equality nor a bit of respect. She is a sexual object to the Europeans.
This indirectly refers to the conception of black being bad and impure and white being good and modest. This mindset plays a factor in today’s society as well due to the fact that black women are continued to be sexualized in movies, art, and everyday life. Then, it was discussed how a clear example of this is portrayed through Cuvier’s decision to dissect and create a molded display of Baartman’s body. Even after her death, her body was exploited and observed for strangers to see against her consent.
Lastly, the iconography methodology was used to interpret Tschabalala Self’s painting, Damsel. This painting depicts a black woman in the nude with lighter skin tones around the middle of her body symbolizing she is still owned by the white thoughts created so long ago of sexualizing black women. The history of this type of art proves that objectifying black women is deep rooted in our society and needs to be altered.
