An African 1626 - 1667

David Heschler’s "An African," was carved from wood in the 17th century. Consider the choice of wood, a material readily available and easily worked. The figure's dynamic pose and finely articulated musculature are the products of a subtractive process, revealing the artist's mastery over the medium. The smooth surface, achieved through careful carving and polishing, enhances the figure's lifelike appearance. But the figure's subjective reality is more complex. Heschler was active at a time of burgeoning colonial trade, when European markets were increasingly flush with raw materials obtained via exploited labor. This sculpture, with its title, cannot be separated from that context. It is an artifact of social and economic disparity, a European artist's rendering of a non-European person. By considering the material and the historical conditions of its making, we see how so-called "fine art" is often deeply imbricated with the story of labor.