Painting

Item number 2962/7 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

Item Records

This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.

The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.

These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.

Data
Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

Painting of prisoners on the deck of a ship. The painting shows a pirate ship in grey and brown, with the word “Negrie” on its side. A pirate flag flutters in the top right corner. Several dark skinned men, bare chested and in colourful shorts, are chained together in the foreground, with light skinned men in uniform ranged behind them. One stands in the rigging of the ship. The ocean is light blue and pink, with sea spray rising at the front. The sky is dark purple and blue.

Iconographic Meaning

This contemporary painting by Haitian artist Roodly Jeune alludes to the colonization of the Caribbean. Plantation economies were established there based on the labour of enslaved Africans, who are depicted here imprisoned by French officials. After years of informal partial occupation by French pirates, the island known as Saint-Domingue became a French possession in 1659; it was liberated in 1804 in the aftermath of the 13-year-long Haitian revolution, led by Africans. Haiti’s declaration of independence set an example for other Caribbean countries and all of Latin America.