Shifting the Gaze
Titus Kaphar
Contemporary Art
On View: American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Witness
About this Brooklyn Icon
The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.
Titus Kaphar has a bone to pick with art history. He has publicly shared that in his first class on the subject, among the hundreds of pages in his textbook, only a handful were dedicated to Black artists and subjects. When his professor skipped the material despite Kaphar’s protests, the artist felt compelled to explore dynamics of race and power by examining whose histories are studied and whose are disregarded in the United States. Since then, Kaphar has become known for altering historical images to uncover hidden narratives relating to Black history.
To produce Shifting the Gaze, Kaphar took a copy of a work by Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals and obscured the white subjects with white paint, leaving the Black figure uncovered. Kaphar has said that more research and writing has been devoted to the clothing and jewelry Hals painted than to the sole Black subject; this work pushes the subject to center stage by adjusting the viewer’s perspective. Kaphar also produces canvases that have been cut, collaged, and—like this one—painted over, each affirming the presence and influence of Black people throughout time.
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Gallery Label
This work came together in two stages. After painting a copy of Frans Hal's Family Group in a Landscape (ca 1645–58), Titus Kaphar unveiled the work during his 2017 TEDTalk and began applying loose, white brushstrokes over the figures. He stopped at the final subject, a young Black boy thought to be the family's servant, whom Kaphar left visible. Across his wide-ranging practice, Kaphar seeks to shift the viewer's gaze, reorienting audiences to focus on historically overlooked subjects.
The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.
Titus Kaphar has a bone to pick with art history. He has publicly shared that in his first class on the subject, among the hundreds of pages in his textbook, only a handful were dedicated to Black artists and subjects. When his professor skipped the material despite Kaphar’s protests, the artist felt compelled to explore dynamics of race and power by examining whose histories are studied and whose are disregarded in the United States. Since then, Kaphar has become known for altering historical images to uncover hidden narratives relating to Black history.
To produce Shifting the Gaze, Kaphar took a copy of a work by Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals and obscured the white subjects with white paint, leaving the Black figure uncovered. Kaphar has said that more research and writing has been devoted to the clothing and jewelry Hals painted than to the sole Black subject; this work pushes the subject to center stage by adjusting the viewer’s perspective. Kaphar also produces canvases that have been cut, collaged, and—like this one—painted over, each affirming the presence and influence of Black people throughout time.
***
Gallery Label
This work came together in two stages. After painting a copy of Frans Hal's Family Group in a Landscape (ca 1645–58), Titus Kaphar unveiled the work during his 2017 TEDTalk and began applying loose, white brushstrokes over the figures. He stopped at the final subject, a young Black boy thought to be the family's servant, whom Kaphar left visible. Across his wide-ranging practice, Kaphar seeks to shift the viewer's gaze, reorienting audiences to focus on historically overlooked subjects.
MEDIUM
Oil on canvas
DATES
2017
DIMENSIONS
83 × 103 1/4 in. (210.8 × 262.3 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Contemporary Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
2017.34
CREDIT LINE
William K. Jacobs Jr., Fund
PROVENANCE
December 19, 2017, purchased from Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is on view in American Art Galleries, 5th Floor, Witness
CAPTION
Titus Kaphar (American, born 1976). Shifting the Gaze, 2017. Oil on canvas, 83 × 103 1/4 in. (210.8 × 262.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, William K. Jacobs Jr., Fund, 2017.34. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, CUR.2017.34_Jack_Shainman_Gallery.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, CUR.2017.34_Jack_Shainman_Gallery.jpg. Image courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery, 2017
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
©Titus Kaphar
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