The History of Black Women in Western Art

"Voyage of the Sable Venus," the titular poem of the collection, studies the way Black women have been portrayed in Western Art over thousands of years, which then allows us to see how Black women have been treated in different cultures and societies throughout history. Lewis used primary sources -- the titles or descriptions of pieces of art featuring a Black female figure, or the title of the art collection it appeared in -- as her source text, thus using the language of artists and art institutions to craft a historical narrative. The focus of the poem's narrative is, of course, Black women in Western history. As she collected titles to use in "Voyage of the Sable Venus," Lewis learned that Black women often featured in Western art as decoration, a face in the background of a painting, or...