'Picturing The Banjo' Through American History
Listen
The Banjo Player, an 1856 painting by William Sydney Mount.
The Banjo Player, an 1856 painting by William Sydney Mount.
A Banjo Sampler
Banjo and Bluegrass
An exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., focuses on the imagery of a central player in America's deeply conflicted racial history: the banjo.
"Picturing the Banjo" features paintings, lithographs and other visual media representations of the banjo from the era of slavery through contemporary times. The images track the arrival of an instrument that came from Africa with the slaves. As it was adopted by whites, the instrument fell out of favor with blacks, and became a staple of demeaning minstrel shows.
NPR newsman Paul Brown is also a banjo player.
"By the time I heard a banjo I was 5," Brown recalls "I ordered it through Sears Roebuck. Once I figured out how to tune it I was off and running."
Beyond simply playing banjo, Brown has studied its history since his teen years. As he takes Debbie Elliott on a musical tour of the exhibit, he reflects on what it's like to play an instrument with "a troubled past."
'Miss Apperson' playing banjo beside statue of Flora in niche of Sen. George Hearst's residence, Washington, D.C. The photograph was taken in 1895 by Frances Benjamin Johnston.
A Pastoral Visit, 1881 painting by Richard Norris Brooke.
Photo of Theresa Vaughan playing a Fairbanks Electric No. 2 banjo, circa 1895.
Photographer William Wegman offers his distinctive take on the subject matter in 'Blue Period with Banjo,' a 1980 Polaroid ER print photographed again by Rick Gardener.
Comments
Discussions for this story are now closed. Please see the Community FAQ for more information.