Southern Theme (The Room) No. III

Southern Theme depicts an interior scene—a popular subject for Cortor—and a double portrait of two Black women. The intense intimacy of the domestic space, with table, potbelly stove, lamp, peeling wallpaper and bed frame, is enhanced by the delicate imagery, scale, and presence of female bodies. Cortor’s family migrated from Virginia to Chicago in 1917 as part of the Great Migration, like so many Black Americans at the time. In 1944 and 1945, Cortor received two Julius Rosenwald grants, allowing him to travel to the Sea Islands off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina—home to Gullah Geechee communities descended from West Africa that notably maintained a close connection to African culture and language. Southern Theme represents a hybrid of experiences and ideas around both Chicago and the Sea Islands. While the cramped, low-ceilinged room implies a living space in Chicago, the newspaper pages on the walls and table directly reference the Gullah Geechee belief that newspapers could distract and ward off evil spirits. Cortor adeptly plays with paint application, selectively building up certain portions of the composition around the red dress and metal bed frame. A celebrated printmaker throughout his career, here the artist underscores the work’s inherent materiality—insisting its status as painting.