Analysis Of Black Is Beautiful By Mackalene Thomas

I believe the arist Mackalene Thomas chose to create this masterpiece because she understands the black culture and what a lot of black women went through as time passed. She’s showing appreciation towards her mother and grandmother in what they’ve had to do to provide for their family. This portrait shows beauty, sexuality, and power. Her passion is to expand the boundaries of art history while glorifying the beauty of black women. As I look at the painting I see three compositional components that are in this portrait, which are unity, focus, and movement.
All of them help in a way, especially the focus component. When you look at the portrait you immediately focus on the breast then the movement of her body structure, then the background which all comes together as unity. The media used would be drawing and painting while using the technique of the mosaic of pasting colored glass on the portrait in certain areas. I believe this approach was used because this could be Mackalene’s signature use or wanted to try a different approach and do something most artist don’t do.

The portrait was 2D with 3D texture including the lines, and the color scheme use were majority dark colors. Harmony was use in this painting, combining the elements in this painting made the painting flow smoovely. The work of art that Mackalene created means that “Black is Beautiful,” from past to present notions of the black culture in America. The artistic choices made by the Mackalene in this portrait shows me, in my eyes that the women is doing what she wants, getting what she wants while also getting what she