The Reception of Cleopatra in the Age of Mass Media by Gregory N. Daugherty;

Author:Gregory N. Daugherty; [Daugherty, Gregory N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781350340749
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Published: 2022-07-20T00:00:00+00:00

6.2 Barbara Chase-Riboud

Barbara Chase-Riboud, an African-American artist, poet and novelist, was raised and educated in Philadelphia and now divides her time between Paris and Rome.9 Her long-time fascination with Cleopatra VII of Egypt has resulted in six large-scale sculptures, several mixed media wall pieces, three books of poetry and several allusions in her novels. The result is not only a very personal reception of Cleopatra, but also an intelligent and informed contribution to the ongoing receptions and discussions of Cleopatra’s race, gender and sexuality. At first glance, Chase-Riboud would not seem to belong in a discussion about American popular culture, especially since Shaw was marginalized earlier. I have included her out of a sincere admiration of her work and her efforts to communicate her visions as proudly as possible through her popular novels and her commitment to public art, especially in the form of her Africa Rising memorial at the African Burial10 and her proposal for a Memorial to the Middle Passage slave trade.11 She certainly reflected Black American culture as she confronted European and Egyptian traditions, using Cleopatra to channel many of those experiences in her sculpture, poetry and novels. The heroine of her most recent novel also ‘has a thing about Cleopatra’.12

Chase-Riboud’s talent was recognized early on by her parents and mentors. One of her prints was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art before she was out of high school. Between a BFA from Temple in 1957 and an MFA from Yale in 1960, she received a John Hays Whitney grant to study at the American Academy in Rome. While there she was immersed in Greek and Roman art and history. As a result of a dare at a Christmas party, she left for a trip to Egypt. It was a formative event: ‘For someone exposed only to the Greco-Roman tradition, it was a revelation. I suddenly saw how insular the Western World was vis-a-vis the non-white, non-Christian world.’13

After her marriage to photojournalist Marc Riboud, Chase-Riboud lived in Paris and travelled widely. She made her mark first as a sculptor, with her breakthrough marked by the acclaim and criticism of her Malcolm X14 and Zanzibar15 series in the 1970s. These pieces, the subject of a recent book,16 also illustrate her signature technique involving wax moulded with a blowtorch, the lost wax bronze casting and the silk, hemp and/or wool draped to hide a steel or wooden armature. Artistically they show her debt to Bernini’s sense of movement and the mixing of contradictory elements. Thematically they also demonstrate her growing concern for Black issues and especially for the Atlantic slave trade. ‘Why Did We Leave Zanzibar?’, the first poem in her first book, both illustrates her anguish over the African Diaspora and contains her earliest published allusion to the Cleopatra legend.17 After her marriage to Sergio Tosi and the opening of an atelier in Rome, the influence of Egypt and the classical world merge in ‘Isis’ from 199518 and in the homage to the Winged Victory of Samothrace

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