Beauty Examined
Acylic and collage on canvas
214,9 x 252 cm
Kerry James Marshall weaves connections between the history of Black people and that of great paintings.
In this composite piece, the artist combines a direct reference to The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp (1632) by the Dutch painter Rembrandt with the fate of Saartjie Baartman, known as the Hottentot Venus. This young South African woman, who was deemed to have a peculiar anatomy, was captured by colonists and sold to become a carnival attraction for human zoos and a sex slave in Europe. Her corpse was notoriously autopsied by Georges Cuvier, and her remains were returned to South Africa only in 2002. Kerry James Marshall is questioning the exhibiting of the female body in our societies and in art history.
© Kerry James Marshall
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery (New York).
© Tadao Ando Architect & Associates, Niney et Marca Architectes, agence Pierre-Antoine Gatier.
Photo : Nicolas Brasseur / Pinault Collection.
View of the exhibition “Corps et âmes”, Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Paris, 2025.
