Bélizaire
January 14, 2024 2:05 PM   Subscribe

Bélizaire and the Frey Children is a rare American portrait of an enslaved Black subject depicted with the family of his enslaver. Jeremy K. Simien, an art collector from Baton Rouge, spent years trying to find “Bélizaire” after seeing an image of it online in 2013, following its restoration, that featured all four figures. (NYT) Intrigued, he kept searching, only to find an earlier image from 2005, after the painting had been de-accessioned by the New Orleans Museum of Art and was listed for auction by Christie’s. It was the same painting, but the Black child was missing. He had been painted out.

This painting was commissioned in 1837 by Frederick Frey – a wealthy German merchant and banker – and his wife Coralie D’Aunoy Favre – a member of an elite family present in New Orleans since the Colonial Era. It depicts Elizabeth, Léontine and Frederick Frey Jr., as well as Bélizaire – the fifteen-year-old enslaved domestic owned by the children’s father. By the end of 1837, Elizabeth and Léontine were dead – their lives cut short at ages nine and five – and an economic depression severely reversed the Frey fortune. Only a few years later, Frederick Frey Jr. was dead as well. Thus Bélizaire was the only child depicted in the painting who survived to adulthood. (The Ogden Museum)

This New York Times video tells the story of the painting’s winding trip to exhibit at the Met, and contains interviews with many of the primary figures in the restoration and recognition of the portrait.

Katy Morlas Shannon identified the figures in the painting: For now, Bélizaire’s story stops at Evergreen Plantation in Wallace, Louisiana. He was sold for $1200 to the owner of the plantation in 1856 to work as an enslaved domestic servant, according to Shannon’s research. There are no records of him after 1861 (ed. note: as far as I can tell)

The Magazine Antiques podcast exploring the story.

Additional examples of erasure in portraiture:
Portrait of a Free Woman of Color

Giulia de Medici
posted by bq (4 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thanks, reminds me of this wonderful portrait I came across at the Art Gallery of Ontario, obviously painted with love and care for its subject, whose name and story is lost to history.
posted by deadtrouble at 2:28 PM on January 14 [2 favorites]


I appreciate how thoughtful the storytelling and research is on Bélizaire and his erasure. It's a shame more isn't known about it being removed other than the date of around 1900.

I'm also reminded of the painting Unidentified artist - Robert, Calvin, Martha and William Scott and Mila. It's exhibited at the de Young museum with a very thoughtful explanatory text talking about the enslaved woman and the context of the painting. The museum has made efforts to bring more social justice themes into their exhibits. Whoever did the scholarship for the 19th century room did an excellent job. It breathes a lot of new life and interest into what otherwise would be fairly ordinary, dull American paintings.
posted by Nelson at 3:41 PM on January 14 [2 favorites]


I've been following Simien and this story on his super good Instagram for a few years, so it's cool to see it hit the big time!
Evergreen Plantation is still in existence and unusually intact, with a searchable database of people who were enslaved there. I found a Belisaire in one list of names on the website (I'm guessing the same person? I lived in Louisiana for a long time, it's not a common name there and never was) but he's not in the database.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 7:17 PM on January 14 [2 favorites]


Agreed Nibbly Frog that Simien's Insta is "super good." I would even upgrade that endorsement. It's the kind of account that makes Instagram useful, like the way Kate Wagner made Tumblr useful.
posted by leonard horner at 7:43 PM on January 14 [1 favorite]


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