Eldzier Cortor The Eviction Analysis

Moving, even when planned can be an emotional time for anyone, so image being moved out by force. The painting The Eviction, 1939-40, by Eldzier Cortor, goes into how chaotic this sudden event is with an African-American woman in the center of it all. The use of color and shape lends to the sudden shift of her circumstances. He used simple shapes for the tall skyscrapers and smokestacks and filling them in with few colors and little detail. Shades of reds and browns are the dominating colors in this picture can be found in any urban setting. The color blue is used throughout this work from the sky, the dress, as well as the bag at her feet and the row of houses on the lower right. The green that is in the picture, which is shown as a triangle
pattern depict the grass and the plant that she is holding. The only object that has a coherent shape to it is the women. Unlike the setting around her that has parts missing, she is a complete figure. Judging by the look of the sky, it seems the women had been evicted at night or in the early evening. She is shown with very little possessions. She also carries a potted plant making it like a partner that is taking this journey with her. The lack of belongings could mean that she stayed at in a small apartment indicating her level of wealth. She is also by herself, noting the viewer of her status as being a young, unmarried woman with no kids.
Movement is significantly used in this painting.
There is a streak going across sky, cutting through the pictorial plane. The orbs of light floating in the background are most likely the traffic lights. The placement of the lights suggests the busy street due to traffic along with the simple outline of a car in red to her right. By being evicted, the woman is more or less thrown into a chaotic world outside of her home. The signs to her left seem to float without being attached to any particular building behind her. The bending skyscrapers might indicate the disorientated feeling one develops while looking up at them. They also seem to move in a menacing way as if they are taunting her. The red skyscraper on the right side appears to cut through the row of houses, showing how the city is changing, making room for new development. Overall The Eviction shows a woman going through a life event that left her without a place to
stay.
Skyscrapers were a newly found motif in with artist in the 1900s. They represented the industrial prowess of America at the time to construct such buildings. Photographers took pictures of skyscrapers like the Woolworth building—which was the first building of its kind from all different angles. In the early 1900s artist like John Marin, painted the Woolworth building in an abstracted manner much like Cortor does with the buildings in his work, giving movements of an object that is motionless in reality. One example of the use of movement that is shown in the etching Woolworth Building: The Dance, 1913, by Marin. The building, as well as the scene around it comes to life with the sporadic movement of lines throughout the piece. Even with the liveness and bright colors of that surrounds the subject in Cortor’s work; there lies a feeling of isolation with the figure all by herself.
Despite cities being a place where there seems to be an endless amount of people, isolation plays a role in some of the artist’s work. Edward Hopper, a painter, uses the city landscape to depict people at moments of silence. In the works Nighthawks, 1942, and New York Movie, 1939, Hopper shows such a feeling. Nighthawks show a diner at night with three customers and worker. The man and woman in the scene are sitting together, but they do not seem to interact in a way that leaves room for the viewer to interpret their relationship, while another man sits with his back to the viewer. The streets are shown to be devoid of people, giving way to how empty the relatively crowded place can be at a particular time of day. In New York Movie, an usherette of a movie theater is standing across the way of show goers viewing a movie. The woman looks like she is in a world of her own and she is standing there to usher in any other customers. While these two works show a more imitate view of urban life, skyscrapers, for the most part, shows an impersonal one— that of business.
The skyscraper also symbolize the city environment regarding the powerful people that are controlling it— in a monetary sense, in turn affecting the lives of regular people.
Most likely the woman in The Eviction was forced to move out due to urban development. The theme of transformation comes into play as something for artists to incorporate in their work. Living in the city gave way to all kinds of experiences— being in large crowds, going to events that were not located elsewhere as well as all of the chances that came with them. New York City was the main subject for many artists of any genre. They did not miss their chance to be a part of liveness that the city has to offer. George Bellows was a part of a group known as “Ashcan” artist that used their talent to capture the ever-changing cityscape. In his work Pennsylvania Station Excavation, 1909, he paints the construction of the now well-known station, showing the rawness of it. By painting the land where Penn Station will stand, it can be seen as a symbol of the rapid transformation that took place at the time. Archibald Motley showed how busy city life could be in his work Black Belt, 1934, which displays the nightlife with full round figures doing various things. In both of Motley and Cortor’s paintings, have African Americans as their
subject(s). Urban Black culture congregated around cities during the 1910s when African -Americans made one the largest demographic shifts known as the “Great Migration” (Miller et al. 476). Due to such a shift, this gave at artist a new subject to paint— urban blacks and how they go about their lives. Perhaps the lone woman in The Eviction was one of these migrants, trying to find a better life for herself only to become homeless in the process. This piece of art shows how discombobulated city life can be. Perhaps by painting the surroundings in such way, he wants the show not only what the setting is, but also how it can affect a person mentally who is going through something as life changing as an eviction.