Winold Reiss, 16 Sep 1886 - 29 Aug 1953 - Paul Robeson - 1924 - T-Shirt

A bust-length portrait of Paul Robeson, drawn in pastel and pencil in 1924, with his eyes glancing sideways and a half smile at the corners of his mouth.

Visual Elements & Composition

The vertical portrait is built on a pale pink-cream ground that fills most of the image. The face is modelled in warm reddish-brown pastel, with brighter highlights on the cheek and brow, and it dominates the composition. Dark brown defines short hair cropped close above the forehead. The light suit and grey tie are sketched in loose grey pencil lines that stop short of the paper edges, leaving the background almost bare. The artist's signature sits in the lower right corner, and the words WINOLD and REISS appear on the drawing.

Meaning & Symbolism

The open, unfinished treatment of the clothing keeps attention on the face and expression, a restraint Reiss brought to his portraits of African American leaders of the period. Paul Robeson was a singer, actor and public figure at the centre of the Harlem Renaissance, known for performing spirituals and concert repertoire on stage and in recordings. The relaxed turn of the head suggests a moment of attention rather than a formal pose. Winold Reiss (1886-1953), a German-born painter and illustrator who settled in the United States, became known for portraits of Harlem Renaissance figures, including his series for Alain Locke's anthology The New Negro (1925). The original drawing is held in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery collection.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A portrait on a tee is seen up close and in passing, across the chest, so the face registers first and the bare background lets it stand alone. The sidelong glance seems to look past the wearer toward whoever is nearby, which suits a shirt worn through an ordinary day. The softness of the pastel reads as a drawing rather than a graphic, and that quality carries onto the front of the shirt with the figure at its centre.