2015 Exhibition: Archibald Motley’s Fat Man

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Archibald Motley’s Fat Man

Continued from the post: Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist.

One of the fun features of the exhibition is spotting Motley’s “Fat Man” in numerous paintings.

Who is this Fat Man?

I became aware of the character of Archibald Motley’s “Fat Man” in the lecture by curator Dr. Richard Powell,  on the day of the Opening Reception of the exhibition on March 6, 2015. Dr. Richard Powell is Professor in the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University.  In his extremely engaging and enlightening lecture he talked about Fat Man, who appears in many of Motley’s paintings. Fat Man first appears in Motley’s 1927 painting “Stomp”, which is his third documented painting of scenes of Chicago’s Black entertainment district, after Black & Tan Cabaret [1921] and Syncopation [1924]. He subsequently appears in many of his paintings throughout his career.

Stomp [1927] – by Archibald Motley.

Here is an excerpt of Dr. Powell’s lecture, where he talks about Motley’s Fat Man..

Fat Man becomes kind of a surrogate for the real life onlooker of Bronzeville, whether Caucasian, African-American, sly-gawker, art gallery visitor or like Motley, a symbolic observer from within the raucous interior. In Stomp and in a dozen or so future paintings he will appear, Motley’s Fat Man is less of an object of ridicule than a sympathetic onlooker. He is always present, well dressed, a bystander just as much as an active participant.

I had fun spotting Fat Man in many of the paintings..
Stomp [1927], The Plotters [1933], Black Belt [1934], Barbecue [1934], Boys in the Backroom [1934], Saturday Night [1935], The Picnic [1936], Carnival [1937], Sunday in the Park [1941], Barbeque [1960], Hot Rhythm [1961].

The Plotters [1933] – by Archibald Motley / Walter O. and Linda Evans Collection of African American Art, Savannah, Georgia.

Black Belt [1934] – by Archibald Motley / Collection of Hampton University Museum, Hampton, Virginia.

Barbecue [1934] – by Archibald Motley / Collection of Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

The Boys in the Backroom [1934] – by Archibald Motley / Collection of the Estate of Reginald F. Lewis, New York, New York.

Saturday Night [1935] – by Archibald Motley / Collection of Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

The Picnic [1936] – by Archibald Motley / Collection of Mara Motley, MD, and Valerie Gerrald Browne.

Carnival [1937] – by Archibald Motley / Collection of Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

Sunday in the Park [1941] – by Archibald Motley / Collection of South Side Community Art Center.

Barbecue [1960] – by Archibald Motley / Collection of Mara Motley, MD, and Valerie Gerrald Browne.

Hot Rhythm [1961] – by Archibald Motlety / Collection of Mara Motley, MD, and Valerie Gerrald Browne