Mabel Dwight (1875-1955), Portrait of Paul Robeson as Emperor Jones, 1930 | 

Lithograph, sheet: 22 × 16 in. (55.9 × 40.6 cm) |

Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Museum Purchase) |

2018.15.925 

 

In this work, printmaker Mabel Dwight depicts Paul Robeson as Emperor Brutus Jones, who the actor played on stage in 1925 and on film in 1933. Written by Eugene O’Neill, The Emperor Jones is a retelling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son in which a black man from South Carolina leaves the south and ultimately becomes the self-appointed emperor of an unnamed Caribbean island. Corrupted by money and power, he is dethroned and killed by his own people, but not before repenting for his sins—ostensibly gambling, lust, and murder, but, in actuality, not knowing his “place.” In this print, Dwight relies upon Robeson in order to create a psychological portrait of “Jones” as he tries to outrun his men. Created during the Great Migration, this work, the play, and the film grapple—whether intentionally or not—with mainstream fears around the presence of black men in the urban North.