The Magic Cure

Publisher Currier & Ives American
1890
Not on view
This pair of before and after images come from the Currier & Ives's Darktown series where offensive racial stereotypes are applied to Black (African American) people. That the firm issued so many works of this type demonstrates how commonplace racist imagery was in nineteenth-century American culture. It is hoped that by studying the context that produced such images, today's viewers will work to minimize discrimination, stereotyping and intolerance.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Magic Cure
  • Series/Portfolio: Darktown Series
  • Publisher: Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907)
  • Date: 1890
  • Medium: Hand-colored lithograph
  • Dimensions: Image: 9 3/4 × 13 3/8 in. (24.8 × 34 cm)
    Sheet: 13 7/16 × 17 13/16 in. (34.2 × 45.3 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of A. S. Colgate, 1952
  • Object Number: 52.632.21
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Currier & Ives - The Magic Cure - The Metropolitan Museum of Art