Agostino Brunias, 1728–1796, Italian, active in Britain (1758–70; 1777-80s)
Title:
A Linen Market with a Linen-stall and Vegetable Seller in the West Indies
Date:
ca. 1780
Materials & Techniques:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
21 5/8 x 30 inches (54.9 x 76.2 cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B2009.12.3
Gallery Label:
The linen market was a recurrent theme in the work of Agostino Brunias. His detailed depictions of the buying and selling of textiles—manufactured in Britain for export to the Caribbean and Africa—were calculated to showcase the prosperity of the British-controlled West Indies, and the islands’ active participation in the global economy. Brunias’s careful depictions of dress and race draw on ethnological images of racial and social types that were popular in Europe, yet his figures also function as individuals actively negotiating their place in society. Dress was a form of resistance and means of establishing autonomy among the enslaved and free people of color. Brunias gave particular prominence to figures of women, who are often well dressed and stride confidently through the bustling chaos of the public marketplaces. Surrounded by people and goods from around the world, they are an integral part of the islands’ commercial and social life. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016