Artwork
The Power of Music
The Power of Music is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist William Sidney Mount. It dates from 1847 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
In a Long Island barn before the Civil War, a Black laborer leans on a hoe outside a doorway, listening to white men play a fiddle tune within.
In a Long Island barn before the Civil War, a Black laborer leans on a hoe outside a doorway, listening to white men play a fiddle tune within. William Sidney Mount signed and dated the canvas "Wm S. MOUNT. / 1847" in the lower left. Acquired by the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1991 through the Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, the oil-on-canvas genre scene measures roughly 17 by 21 inches and is currently displayed in Gallery 207.
Overview
William Sidney Mount's 1847 painting, The Power of Music, captures a moment in rural Long Island just prior to the Civil War. The oil-on-canvas work depicts an African American farm worker pausing outside a barn door, captivated by the fiddle music played by white men within. This scene explores both the unifying power of music and the underlying racial divisions present in mid-19th-century America. Mount, a pioneer in American genre painting, signed and dated the work in the lower left.
Subject & Meaning
The composition features an African American laborer, hoe in hand, standing outside a barn and listening intently to the fiddle tune performed by white figures inside. While the shared experience of music suggests a common humanity, the physical barrier of the barn door visually emphasizes the racial segregation prevalent at the time. This separation, with one group inside and the other outside, serves as a poignant metaphor for the societal fractures that characterized the United States on the eve of the Civil War.
Context
Born in Setauket, New York, in 1807, William Sidney Mount was the first native-born American artist to focus on genre painting, depicting scenes of everyday life. His personal connection to music deeply influenced his work; Mount was an accomplished fiddler himself and even designed and patented a violin he called the "Cradle of Harmony." This background provided him with a unique insight into the cultural and social role of music in American society.
History & Provenance
The painting was commissioned by Laura Lee, wife of former New York City mayor Gideon Lee. It debuted at the National Academy in New York in 1847 under the title "The Force of Music," and later appeared in various exhibitions as "Music Hath Charms." The work remained within the Lee family before being acquired by The Century Association in 1880, where it was held until 1990. The Cleveland Museum of Art purchased it in 1991.
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Artist
William Sidney Mount (November 26, 1807 – November 19, 1868) was a 19th-century American genre painter.
