The Janitor Who Paints

Object Details

Date
ca. 1937, repainted after 1940
Artist
Palmer Hayden, born Widewater, VA 1890-died New York City 1973
Sitter
Palmer Hayden
Luce Center Label
Palmer Hayden was known for his paintings of the African American scene. In a 1969 interview he described The Janitor Who Paints, created around 1930, as "a sort of protest painting" of his own economic and social standing as well as that of his fellow African Americans. Hayden said his friend Cloyd Boykin, an artist who, like Hayden, had supported himself as a janitor, inspired this piece: "I painted it because no one called Boykin the artist. They called him the janitor." Details within the cramped apartment—the duster and the trashcan, for example—point to the janitor's profession; the figure's dapper clothes and beret, much like those Hayden himself wore, point to his artistic pursuits. Hayden's use of perspective was informed by modern art practices, which favored abstraction and simplified forms. He originally exaggerated the figure's facial features, which many of his contemporaries criticized as African American caricatures, but later altered the painting. He maintained the janitor as the protagonist as it represented larger civil rights issues within the African American community. (John Ott, "Labored Stereotypes: Palmer Hayden's 'The Janitor Who Paints,'" American Art 22, no.1, Spring 2008)
Topic
Animal\cat
Figure group\female and child
African American
Occupation\art\artist
Occupation\service\janitor
Architecture Interior\domestic
Object\art tool\palette
Portrait male\self portrait
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Painting and Sculpture
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Object number
1967.57.28
Type
Painting
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
39 1/8 x 32 7/8 in. (99.3 x 83.6 cm.)
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk737cdb8b2-f9e9-48e4-b634-3fcae147aa1a
Record ID
saam_1967.57.28