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Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

An African American woman wearing a bright yellow shirt with black polka dots sits on a porch swing, holding its chain with one hand and resting her head on the other. The artist, Luigi Settanni, was an Italian immigrant who studied at the Barnes Foundation and probably painted this canvas in New Orleans. The luscious colors and squiggly forms echo Chaim Soutine's Pastry Chef , its pendant image on this wall. The painting was previously titled Topsy, which may refer to the character of a young enslaved girl in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. Such a reference might indicate the stereotypes through which Settanni viewed his subject—childlike, happy-go-lucky, and redeemed through white intervention. The painting was never published with this title, however.

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