C3R associate Professor Celeste-Marie Bernier launches book on American artist Horace Pippin

C3R roundtable on war, race, and imagery draws large crowd for book launch at Waterstones in Nottingham

On Friday evening, November 13 at Waterstones, C3R associate Professor Celeste-Marie Bernier launched her new book Suffering and Sunset: World War I in the Art and Life of Horace Pippin as part of a larger roundtable event on race and visual culture across three major modern conflicts. The event marked the sesquicentennial anniversary of the American Civil War and the centennial anniversary of the First World War with a focus on African Americans who have been neglected by conventional military histories.

C3R research associate and PhD student James Brookes, who researches the soldier's experience and visual culture of the American Civil War, gave the first presentation, discussing how African American soldiers utilised photographic portraiture and artwork on regimental flags to express their contribution in a war for Union and emancipation. James demonstrated, with the help of rare archival footage and imagery, that African American soldiers defined themselves as agents of their own liberation.

Next up, C3R co-director and PhD student Rosemary Pearce, a scholar of the African American experience under segregation, explored race and imagery, particularly photography, in the context of the Second World War. When the war broke out, African Americans faced a dilemma of waging a war against fascism abroad whilst suffering racism at home in the United States. Rose's photographic examples showed that, while African Americans contributed greatly to the war effort, they were constantly exposed to idealised representations of white soldiers in the media. Rose argued that the dissemination of images of African Americans in uniform instilled pride amongst their community and galvanised them to become more active in the fight against Jim Crow and segregation at home.

Finally, Celeste launched her book Suffering and Sunset with a powerful presentation about the art and life of African American artist Horace Pippin. Pippin served in an all-black infantry regiment in the First World War until he suffered a wound on the Western front. Conflict provided a formative experience that defined much of Pippin's life and work. Through his iconic art style he transformed combat service into canvases of emotive power, psychological depth, and realism, often merging the experiences of war in Europe with the realities of racism and violence in the United States. Celeste's book is the first intellectual history and cultural biography of Pippin, revealing his many artful resistances to racism in a white-dominated art world.

You can see some photos of this event on war, race, and imagery on our flickr page and get more info on Suffering and Sunset on the publisher's website.