Colorism | The Invincible                      Color Line

ARCHIBALD J. MOTLEY JR.

The Mulatress

 

In Mulatress With Figurine and Dutch Seascape Motley presents the mulattress women with a very different appearances. The model for this portrait has very light skin, thick wavy hair, and dark brown eyes. By shifting the physical definition of a “mulattress,” Motley refuted the limitations on implied by the racial category,  proving the fallacies of a system of classification and simultaneously celebrating the beauty and diversity of black women.