Freedom
Francis Guy, Winter Scene in Brooklyn, 1820, oil on canvas, 58 x 106 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2006.98. Photography by Dwight Primiano.
Francis Guy
Winter Scene in Brooklyn
- How can you describe the people in this painting? What do you notice about the ways they are interacting with one another and with the scene? Who is shown to be doing laborious work?
- What time period do you think is being represented here? What makes you say that?
Francis Guy found artistic inspiration in the daily activity of his Brooklyn neighborhood. Here, he depicted specific buildings, people, and even animals as seen from the window of his second-floor residence. Guy paid close attention to the diversity of the neighborhood and how each person contributed to the character of the place, whether socializing, slipping on ice, or cutting wood. A large concentration of Brooklyn’s free African American population lived near this very intersection, where Fulton and James Streets meet Front Street, now located under the Brooklyn Bridge.
- How would you describe the balance of equality in your neighborhood? Has it always been that way? What happens when the meaning of equality changes?
- How are our ideals of equality reflected in our daily lives?
Content Contributors
Exhibition sponsored by Kenneth C. Griffin
Learning and engagement programming for
We the People: The Radical Notion of Democracy is sponsored by:
Sarah and Ross Perot, Jr. Foundation | Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates, & Woodyard, P.L.L.C. | Johnny and Jeanie Morris, Bass Pro Shops | Alturas Foundation | Harriet and Warren Stephens, Stephens Inc. | Sotheby’s | Bob and Becky Alexander | Marybeth and Micky Mayfield | Lamar and Shari Steiger | Jeff and Sarah Teague / Citizens Bank | Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities | Avis and Bill Bailey | Scarlett and Neff Basore | June Carter Family | Terri and Chuck Erwin | Jackye and Curtis Finch | The Harrison and Rhonda French Family | Jim and Susan von Gremp | Laurice Hachem | Shannon and Charles Holley | Valorie and Randy Lawson / Lawco Energy Group | Donna and Mack McLarty | Steve and Susan Nelson | Neal and Gina Pendergraft | Helen Porter | JT and Imelda Rose | Lee and Linda Scott | Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Catherine and Michael Mayton, Trustees | William Reese Company
