Ever since I moved to New York City, I have been planning to visit the Museum of Modern Art someday, so I am really excited when the class eventually gave me this opportunity to go for a visit. In the museum, we were given the tour of Charles White Exhibit. He was an African-American Social Realist artist during the 1900s, who is known for his production of Black American related subjects in paintings and murals. White chronicled the history of African Americans in his artworks to address the struggles, exploitation and inequity that they faced in the past. His artwork encompassed an incredibly skilled draftsmanship and artistic sensitivity that has not only reached and moved me but also millions of others.

During the one-hour tour, we were introduced by the guide with several paintings of White, she gave us detailed explanation of the background behind each piece which indeed sparked my insight to appreciate the profound impacts of White’s artworks and the hidden messages underneath the surface. I was especially impressed by White’s skillful employment of different lines to create a contrast between light and shade, which forms an intriguing texture and depth that enables the painting to reflect a powerful visual sensation to the viewers.

One of my favorite pieces from White is the Frederick Douglass Lives Again (The Ghost of Frederick Douglass) created in 1949. The painting was produced in memory of one of the most prominent figures in American history — Frederick Douglass. In the painting, Frederick Douglass was painted as an oversized figure on the top right of the paper, widening his arms in attempt to break the iron chains covering another group of African fellows. When I first saw the painting, I genuinely admired the creative way that White had come up with to encapsulate Douglass’s story in such a potent painting. It reminded me of the book I read about Frederick Douglass two years ago. Frederick Douglass was one of the most renowned persons in the course of American history, he had been a slave in his early years, during when he overcame tremendous obstacles and learned to become literate by himself. Education played a key role on his path of becoming an abolitionist. When he escaped slavery and ran to the northern states, he helped a number of other slaves run away through the underground railway and actively persuaded northerners to abolish slavery. White’s painting vividly communicates Douglass’s essential role in freeing his slave fellows through literacy as the men painted on the front most is holding a roll of paper, their eyes look resolved and courageous as they are firmly determinate to fight against slavery.

Looking around the exhibit, there is a heart-pondering story behind each artwork that accounts for the history of African Americans. I truly appreciate artists like Charles White who brings attentions to these valuable stories for future reference, his works manifest what he insisted all the time, “Art must be an integral part of the struggle, it can’t simply mirror what’s taking place. … It must ally itself with the forces of liberation.”