The idea of a “Venus” figure has long existed in art history, becoming a protective label under which artists could depict a female nude, often in sexualized ways, claiming that they were simply depicting the goddess of love and beauty. Through colonization and American slavery, Africans were heavily oppressed as they were enslaved and stripped of their culture. The “newness” of these African “others” fascinated many European and American artists. They therefore sought to capture these differences through their art, birthing the idea of an artist as an ethnographer. These artists attempted to capture the beauty of these African “others” and created new Venus types from the women they encountered. Though some of these works are breathtaking and beautiful, many of these African Venuses are nameless, reduced only to their race and oppressed status. At worst, they are hypersexualized as new, wild sexual objects. This exploitation of embodied image bearers should lead us to mourn the ways that these women were reduced to their sexuality and race. We should seek to look holistically at these women, seeing God’s image in them. We should mourn with them the abuse they received and the implications of these images on culture’s perspective of black women.
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Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier, African Venus (1852)
Bronze and gold, H: 15 9/16 x W: 8 inches
The Walters Art Museum.
Charles-Henri Joseph Cordier was a French artist, known for his ethnographic busts depicting various ethnic “others”. This bust was originally titled by Cordier as “Black Woman from the Colonies” and is believed to either be a blending of many women Cordier came into contact with in the colonies or a young French Slave. Either way, Cordier failed to dignify this woman by naming her or recording her name. In an attempt to ennoble this woman, Théophile Gautier, a French critic, renamed this piece “African Venus”. While this places her in the categorical idea of the goddess of beauty, it further strips her of identity and forces her to represent all of Africa’s beauty. While she is not a nude figure, the cloth wrapped around her chest clings to her breasts, making clear every curve. This emphasizes her sexuality, further reducing her identity to her sexuality and race.
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Alfred Martin Duggan-Cronin, Ovambo (Ogandjera) Woman (1936)
Gelatin-silver developed-out print, 7.48 x 5.31 inches
The Walther Collection.
Alfred Martin Duggan-Cronin was an Irish-South African who sought to capture the indigenous tribes in South Africa. This photograph depicts an Ogandjera woman who is evidently beautiful. While her sexuality is not the focus of the photo, her sexuality is not hidden. Her body is positioned in the composition such that her breast peaks from behind her arm. She too is nameless, reduced to represent her ethnic group. Photos like these both honored the cultures they represented by capturing them in a beautiful artist form but also worked to perpetuate the idea that these cultures were primitive and inferior. As more technologically developed countries viewed these photos, it furthered their view that these countries were behind the times through the differences in attire and modesty seen in this photo. This concept helped to engrain the idea that their colonization efforts were a helpful developing effort, rather than a harmful.
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Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, Why Born Enslaved! (1873)
Marble, 22 7/8 × 16 × 12 1/2 inches
The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 54.
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux was a French sculptor, known for his “aggressive” sculpture which was often shocking to viewers. Originally titled “Négresse”, this sculpture shows a defiant woman. Her clothing is pulled back, placing her breasts on display and forcing nakedness upon her. She is bound and is thereby unable to conceal herself. These bounds are set in stone and inseparable from her identity in the bust. Her identity is forced to be intrinsically connected to her race through the nameless title and her enslaved state through her perpetual ropes. This furthers the sexualization and the idea of the lesser state of black women through those features being the only identifiable aspects of this woman.
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Charles Williams, Love and Beauty - Sartjee the Hottentot Venus (1811)
Paper, 288 millimeters x 218 millimeters
The British Museum.
Saartjie (Sara) Baartman was a South African black woman who lived from 1789-1815. She was brought over to Europe and was subjugated to grotesque sexual trafficking, named the “Hottentot Venus” by her captors. As a source of entertainment, she was publicly examined as an exhibit and often sexuality exploted due to the “exoticness” of her body. This print helped to advertise her exhibit and her sexuality, through her turned orientation placing her breasts and buttocks in full view. Cupid is also atop her buttocks, only furthering the idea that she is a sexual object and drawing emphasis to her buttocks. Images like these helped to further entrench the idea of black women’s wild and available sexuality in the minds of many Europeans. While we know this woman’s name, her identity was reduced to her being a sexual wonder and an “other” due to her race and body.
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Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier, Woman from the French Colonies (1861)
Algerian onyx-marble, bronze, enamel, amethyst; white marble socle, H. 37 3/4 x W. 23 1/4 x D. 12 1/4 inches
The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 556.
Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier continued his ethnographic sculptures for the rest of his artistic career. “Woman from the French Colonies” is an example of one of his later works where he begins to work with different materials. The contrast in value of materials emphasizes this woman’s blackness and the title only furthers her identity as a nameless black woman. Her peaceful expression helps to perpetuate the idea of African acceptance of the colonization efforts, despite the fact that these efforts were often deeply harmful and stripped away African culture, just as this woman’s name has been stripped from her.
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Renee Cox, Hottentot Venus (1994)
Gelatin silver print, 71 ⅛ x 54 ⅜ inches
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
This photograph by Renee Cox responds to the horrific sexual abuse of Saartjie (Sara) Baartman. Renee titles this piece the name placed upon Saartijie, the Hottentot Venus. Renee wears fake plastic breasts and buttocks, both drawing the viewer to recall images of Saartijie but also hiding from view those things which were so horribly abused about Saartijie. This image seeks to restore and reclaim the idea of the black Venus, emphasizing that black women’s sexuality is not for display or show. Renee’s piercing eye contact forces the viewer to confront the sexualized ways that black women are portrayed in art and viewed in our culture.
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