LeRoy Foster: An Evening in the Garden (The Couple)

📽️ Jeanne and Ralph Graham Curatorial Fellow Andrew Ruys de Perez joins us for more LeRoy Foster history, telling us about how the time period in which Foster's painting, "An Evening in the Garden," was created makes the work even more impactful.
💕 Also known as "The Couple," this painting was created in the early 1950s, a time when many gay individuals felt pressure to conform due to the Pink Scare-- but not LeRoy Foster, who was open about his sexuality during this time, hints of which we find in this painting.
☁️ The fantastical aspects of this artwork, such as the ethereal veil suspended in midair, and the intense blue eyes and blond hair of the Black figure, transport it to a realm that appears to be beyond our reality. This disguises the nature of the two figures as a couple, a very subversive depiction considering the time period.
🏛️ Notably, "The Couple" was painted more than a decade before the groundbreaking Supreme Court ruling in Loving v. Virginia, which abolished laws prohibiting interracial marriages. Additionally, the intentionally ambiguous gender presentation of the figure on the left subtly suggests a potential queer dynamic within the relationship. In essence, this painting emerges as a bold and daring venture, challenging the societal norms of its time.
💛 This work hung for many decades in the offices of the Detroit Urban League, which sponsored the Pen and Palette Club, which nurtured the talent of many Black Artists in Detroit from the midcentury including Foster and Charles McGee. McGee said of Foster: “Everything was in the closet back then. But he was just LeRoy, and that was beautiful. He was a beautiful human being."
🖼️ "LeRoy Foster: Solo Show" will be closing at Cranbrook Art Museum on March 3, 2024.

[@Sickantiredofbeingsickantired]

Beautiful wow