The time in which Motley worked––this essay focuses on the period from the 1920s into the 1940s––saw enormous changes in the United States, from the new vibrancy of life in the nation’s growing, northern cities after World War I, to the stress of the Great Depression, and to the sacrifices and traumas of World War II. Inevitably, such major societal shifts affected definitions of class and race. As we shall see, Motley’s understanding of race evolved from viewing it as an observable, physical fact to understanding it as an ideological construct dependent on social circumstances. His shifting ideas are apparent in a series of portraits of black Americans that he executed in the 1920s, in which he captured a sense of the sitters’ dignity and achievements but, in dispelling old racisms, he evoked others. Likewise, in later depictions in which he attempted to scientifically document aspects of the history and beliefs of the peoples of central and east Africa, he incorporated a number of reductive, primitivizing ideas. And finally, in his now-famous genre scenes, in which he succeeded in making vivid the energy, elegance, and amusements of city life, as well as its seductive and corrupting aspects, he employed stereotypes drawn from popular culture that at times undermine rather than support his stated aims.

Biography: Family History and Artistic Training

In his 1978 interview, Motley recalled knowing from the age of nine that he wanted to be an artist: “I just felt it was the only thing I could do; I couldn’t do anything else. That’s the way I felt within myself.” 3 Motley was born in New Orleans; his ancestors included people of African American, European, Creole, and Native American descent. Seeking economic opportunities, the family settled in Chicago in 1894. Motley’s father was a Pullman porter for the Michigan Central Rail line, and his mother was a schoolteacher until she married; these were two of the most prestigious professions available to African Americans at this time. Motley’s multiracial Louisiana roots, African American heritage, and middle-class status all fostered in him an acute awareness of the social and economic classifications and constraints that skin tone imposed.

In Chicago Motley attended white primary and secondary schools, followed by four years (1914–18) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The senior Motley’s acquaintance with industrialist and socialite Frank Gunsaulus, president of the Armour Institute of Technology (now the Illinois Institute of Technology), resulted in an offer to the young Motley of a fellowship to study architecture. He turned it down, convincing Gunsaulus instead to fund his first year at the School of the Art Institute. In subsequent years, Motley received tuition remission and a weekly stipend by working as a janitor at the Art Institute, with such duties as dusting sculpture pedestals in the galleries and setting up chairs for events. Despite the grueling demands of balancing work and school, he earned commendable grades and distinctions, including honorable mentions in life drawing (1917) and in oil painting (1918). 4

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago was among the first American art academies to admit black students; through the School, Motley met the African American artists Charles C. Dawson, William Farrow, and William E. Scott. About his time at the Art Institute, Motley remembered being treated with “courtesy and respect” by both instructors and fellow students. At one point, however, he reported to the dean the names of students who were harassing him because he was black; they were sternly reprimanded and informed that they would be expelled if this behavior continued. 5

Shortly after graduation, Motley decided to focus exclusively on African American themes. 6 While his choice of subjects was pioneering, he remained firmly committed to academic principles, such as composition and drawing; he cautioned African American artists that "feeling" alone did not qualify as good art. In a review for the Chicago Defender, he wrote, "Give the [artist] of the Race a chance to express himself in his own individual way, but let him abide by the principles of true art, as our [white] brethren do, and we shall have a great variety of art, a great art, and not a monotony of degraded art." 7