Kerrey James Marshall, “Past Times,” 1997. Sotheby's
Kerry James Marshall’s “Past Times” is one of those rare works that gives you goosebumps, one you know is a masterpiece the moment you see it. Even if it’s not to your taste, or if you’re not into art, you can tell it’s something truly special. And beyond its commanding presence, the work is filled with artistic and historical references that challenge both art history and America’s complex legacy of slavery and racism. One of Marshall’s most important paintings, it sold back in 2018 to the rapper P. Diddy for a record-shattering $21 million.
By inserting black figures into a painting of suburban leisure, Marshall upends racial stereotypes that appear both in art history and our broader society. These playful arcadian scenes are a pillar of the art historical canon, appearing regularly in the work of artists like Watteau and Monet. However, “Past Times” is most clearly associated with Georges Seurat’s masterpiece "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,” pictured in the last slide. Marshall replaces Seurat’s exclusively white picnickers with a black family enjoying stereotypically white activities like golf, croquette, and waterskiing. Hence, the painting not only comments on the absence of black figures in art history but also calls attention to the racial stereotypes that pervade our society today.
One detail that I love is how Marshall’s towering black figures gaze back at you, suggesting a level of awareness beyond the world of the canvas. By acknowledging the viewer in this way, Marshall reclaims the agency of his black subjects, challenging the white, male gaze that has often reduced black and female bodies to objects over the course of art history. Marshall makes you question your own presence and motives as the viewer — are you intruding on, or perhaps even exploiting, these black figures for your own aesthetic pleasure? Hence, Marshall’s remix of Seurat’s 19th-century masterpiece not only challenges the viewer to think about racial stereotypes in art and society, but also forces us to question our own role in these racist legacies.