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The Janitor Who Paints (1930)
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Palmer Hayden, The Janitor Who Paints
(1930)
Emily Prengaman
Palmer Hayden
The Harlem Renaissance
A Protest Painting
Hayden was an artist, and working man during the Harlem Reniassance, who had a strong bond to the arts in New York at the time.
He used his culture as inspiration, which was often left to the public for interpretation both positive and negative.
Art and the Harlem Renaissance
A large portion of the significance of Palmer Hayden's art is owed to the time period. The Harlem Renaissance is the period of time that refers to the social climate within the African American community in which artistic and social expression flourished through music, art, and public works. This marks the turning point in which the black community and their social contributions became recognized by white America, giving rise to the long-standing struggle for African Americans in the 1920s.
His Common Works
Common Works
Hayden's work often took inspiration from exaggerated African American features, culture, and environments. He often depicted African American life in rural, and urban settings surrounded by culture, or trapped in a white-washed city.
Powerful and often untitled, they show emotion, and feeling as the social climate at this time was widely aggressive toward African Americans. During the Harlem Renaissance, art was both Hayden's escape, and his protest.
His
MOST Common Work
The Janitor Who Paints
Remastered, 1937
Original, 1930
Palmer Hayden, The Janitor Who Paints, ca. 1937, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.57.28
The Janitor Who Paints, 1937
The original piece done by Palmer Hayden features an African American man painting his wife and child in a small apartment. In the apartment are supplies of a janitor, and an artist. Though it is low quality, we see a painting of Abraham Lincoln on the wall, and a cat on the floor at the woman's feet.
"When it was put on display in 1939, at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the painting received much criticism for being offensively racist" (Sakrani). The piece was considered racist due to the exaggerated African features of the artist, and his family.
Hayden later decided to paint over the piece to make it more appropriate.
Palmer Hayden, The Janitor Who Paints, ca. 1930, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.57.28
The Janitor Who Paints, 1937 (Remastered)
Following the offense taken by the African American community, Hayden remastered the piece to better suit the "New Negro" image. This refers to the image that the black community at the time of the Harlem Renaissance wanted to recreate for themselves.
The remastered version is in color, the physical features of the people are softened, and the Abraham Lincoln artwork is changed to a painting of a cat.
WHY CHANGE?
Hayden felt as though, according to the Britannica, that because of the harsh criticism it received after its debut in the Baltimore museum of art, he should paint over the original work. While still keeping his tribute to his friend Cloyd, he reworked the piece by softening the janitor's facial features, changing the artwork on the wall, and changing other minor details,it was re-released.
The scrutiny from his peers came from the the idea that the exaggerations he made, fed the ideas that white folk had regarding African Americans at the time, thus hindering the whole concept of the Renaissance movement at the time. When in actuality, Hayden was doing the very opposite. His work was but a mere reflection of the impending scrutiny faced by one's own peers to dehumanize a whole group.
What he was doing was showing their aggressors exactly what they wanted to see: an absurd exaggeration of a community no different or worthy than them.
Palmer Hayden's art is a treasure to the Harlem Renaissance as both an art, and a social service to his community.
SOURCES
“Palmer C. Hayden Collection - Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google, artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/iAIyxo80jfOQIw
Hayden, Palmer. “The Janitor Who Paints.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/artwork/janitor-who-paints-10126.
“The Janitor Who Paints.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/topic/The-Janitor-Who-Paints
“Palmer Hayden.” Virtual Exhibition, 23 Apr. 2013, art257virtualexhibitionyb.wordpress.com/palmer-hayden/.
“Palmer Hayden, Harlem Renaissance Artist and Beyond.” African American Registry, aaregistry.org/story/palmer-hayden-harlem-renaissance-artist-and-beyond/.