Free to members or with admission 

Join us every Friday at noon for a 30-minute gallery talk with curators, artists, and community voices exploring art, the PMA Collection, and creative practice.

Gallery Talk: The Drop Sinister with Dr. Tess Chakkalakal, Professor of Africana Studies and English, Bowdoin College; and author, A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt

Join Dr. Tess Chakkalakal as she introduces the life and works of the early 20th century Black author and intellect, Charles W. Chesnutt, whose writings explore race at the turn of the twentieth century. Dr. Chakkalakal will bridge connections between Harry Willson Watrous's The Drop Sinister—What Shall We Do with It (1913) and the emotional and political themes of racial passing and segregation within Chesnutt's works: The Marrow of Tradition (1901) and The House Behind the Cedars (1900).  

Read a recent review of Dr. Chakkalakal’s book.  

Harry Willson Watrous (United States, 1857–1940), The Drop Sinister—What Shall We Do with It?, circa 1913, oil on canvas, 37 x 50 1/4 inches, Gift of the artist, 1919.18

Dr. Tess Chakkalakal