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Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2019.
Listening to Amos and Andy
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2019.
Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2019.

Listening to Amos and Andy

Artist Robert Colescott (American, 1925-2009)
Date1982
MediumAcrylic on canvas
Dimensions84 × 72 in. (213.4 × 182.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 84 3/4 × 72 3/4 × 2 in. (215.3 × 184.8 × 5.1 cm)
ClassificationsContemporary art
Credit LineGift of the family of Joel B. Cooper, in memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper
Object number2002.26.4
Terms
  • Radios
  • Amos & Andy
  • African-American Artist
  • Yellow
  • Brown
  • Pink
  • Black
  • Blue
  • Tan
  • Expressionism
  • Neo-expressionist
On View
On view
DescriptionThis is an acrylic on canvas painting. This painting depicts an African American woman and boy, eating an ice cream cone, sitting on a blue couch together. They are smiling and listening to the popular radio program of Amos and Andy. In the upper yellow semicircle of the painting are two Caucasian men, Freedman F. Gosden and Charles J. Correll, doing a live radio performance of their show, Amos and Andy, in which they acted as two African American men. A sound technician, with headphones and cigarette in his mouth, works behind Amos and Andy.

Label TextRobert Colescott American, 1925–2009 Listening to Amos and Andy, 1982 Acrylic on canvas A painting is like a catalyst. It can't tell a very complicated story. The complication comes in what you are doing in your mind. –Robert Colescott By layering satirical imagery, Robert Colescott uses humor to expose viewers’ own racial and sexual stereotypes. In Listening to Amos and Andy, he takes on blackface minstrelsy in the form of Amos and Andy—the long-running radio serial in which two white voice actors played black characters. In the scene above, one actor’s shadow shows the exaggerated features of racist caricatures. The other actor’s white hand takes on black skin as it extends through the radio and into the living room below. The gesture suggests the far reach of derogatory stereotypes as the two listeners smile, cheerfully entertained by the offensive portrayal. Gift of the family of Joel B. Cooper, in memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper 2002.26.4
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