Bowdoin College Museum of Art

Preview image of work. etching, aquatint, and styrene stencil on paper, Pool Lady 43212

2021.13

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Pool Lady

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Artist

Emma Amos (1938 – 2020)

Title

Pool Lady

Creation Date

1980

Century

20th century

Dimensions

33 1/4 x 29 1/2 in. (84.46 x 74.93 cm)

Object Type

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

etching, aquatint, and styrene stencil on paper

Credit Line

Museum Purchase, Barbara Cooney Porter Fund

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

2021.13

“It’s always been my contention that, for me, a Black woman artist, to walk into the studio is a political act.” – Emma Amos Artist, educator, and activist Emma Amos devoted her artistic career to exploring the issues of representation, racism, and sexism. Her work often provides a new lens from which to explore certain artistic conventions. As noted by curator Shelley Langdale ’85, Pool Lady references the “bather” subject found throughout the history of art. Largely absent from this history, however, are women of African descent. Here Amos presents her take on the trope of the bather: a Black woman, confidently posed with a hand on her hip and an alert, direct gaze. Unlike most depictions of bathers, Amos intentionally chose to portray her subject clothed. She often avoided depicting Black women nude due to associations with sexual exploitation during American slavery. Amos took great care to render the woman’s skin, choosing rich brown tones to highlight the variety of hues found in the African diaspora.