Art Institute of Chicago

View on the River Roseau, Dominica

Agostino Brunias (Italian, active in England and the West Indies, 1758–96)

Date

1770–80

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

United Kingdom

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

In this expansive view of Dominica, people along the riverbank bathe, wash linens, converse, and sell produce. The presence of indigenous Carib, African, Afro-Creole, European, and mixed-race individuals attests to the long history of white-settler colonialism in the West Indies, where valuable crops such as coffee and sugar were cultivated through the labor of enslaved people. The Italian-born artist Agostino Brunias settled on the island, painting scenes of Caribbean life for his planter-class patrons as well as white audiences abroad. Eliding the brutal conditions of slavery, his compositions shaped a reassuring vision of British imperialism for those in power. Yet by centering enslaved and free people of color—and focusing on mixed-race interactions—he also foregrounded the human impact of colonialism.

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