Analysis Of Artist Titus Kaphar's Behind The Myth Of Benevolence

Star Santos
Dr. Connell
Humanities Core
26 January 2023
America Revealed Artist Titus Kaphar is known to the community as a speaker on black history in America on a more contemporary level, going so far as to create works that reveal the hidden truths behind the aforementioned history. His painting Behind the Myth of Benevolence is a prime example of his work in exposing the world to what has been silenced and rewritten. While at first glance the painting does seem to have some sort of commentary on American politics, the underlying history is far more sinister as it dates back to Sally Hemings and the sexualization of black women by their masters. As Kaphar describes his semi-controversial portrait, he lets his audience know that the woman

With this in mind, Kaphar creates a perfect representation of the conflicting history of Thomas Jefferson that is typically known by the general public. In naming his piece Behind the Myth of Benevolence he tackles the concept of Thomas Jefferson being a “benevolent” slave owner while simultaneously criticizing slavery yet having had multiple children with the woman on his Monticello plantation. With his implementation of emphasis paired with his iconographic technique in draping canvas and balancing other visual representations within his art, Kaphar details the true pedophilic nature of Thomas Jefferson and his constant rape through the image and life story of Sally Hemings. In doing so, Kaphar creates a symbol for black women everywhere in her story and likeness as she is

An article originally published by the Benezit Dictionary of Arts references his form of emphasis, “Kaphar’s artworks shed light on the ways in which certain histories have been covered up and silenced and emphasize the power of rewriting history” (2019). Besides the aforementioned metaphorical sense of shedding light on history, Kaphar also uses the literal use of lighting to emphasize different motifs within his art. The portrait, for example, shows a darkened background behind Hemings versus the visible light that Jefferson is surrounded by. This difference in lighting implies that there is a specific emphasis on Jefferson that paints him in a gilded sheen of brilliance in the face of history. However, the darkness that encompasses the area behind Hemings is indicative of her life that is left in the dark despite being one of the most important women in American history. Heming’s story is deeply intertwined with Jefferson’s, but it is often left out as she is stated on multiple occasions to have been his concubine rather than his slave who he had raped to the point of multiple pregnancies in her teenage years. With Kaphar’s emphasis on Jefferson almost completely covering Hemings it is evident that he is making a political commentary on how her history has been covered up time and time again by the man who