Suited Man

oil on canvas, 1931, signed on lower right, 36” x 30"

During the time of Ruth Starr Rose, portraits of African American men and women were essentially never depicted as strong and sophisticated individuals. This is what makes this piece, along with all the others so profound. Similar to the way people partake in protests to support the black Lives Matter movement in this generation, these images were a way of challenging the system and introducing the white population to a world previously unknown to them.