Abolitionist Art and the American Slave Trade

On January 26, 2012, Maurie D. McInnis delivered a lecture entitled "Abolitionist Art and the American Slave Trade." 

In 1853 Eyre Crowe, a young British artist, visited a slave auction in Richmond and captured the scene in sketches that he later developed into a series of illustrations and paintings, including the culminating work, Slaves Waiting for Sale, Richmond, Virginia. In her new book, Slaves Waiting for Sale: Abolitionist Art and the American Slave Trade, Maurie D. McInnis uses Crowe's paintings to explore the trade in Richmond, Charleston, and New Orleans. Through that exploration, which her illustrated lecture will present, she describes the evolving iconography of abolitionist art and the role of visual culture in the transatlantic world of abolitionism.

Professor McInnis teaches in the department of art at the University of Virginia. (Introduction by Cheryl Magazine)

The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.

Want to listen to an audio-only version of this lecture? Listen now on Soundcloud.