Word: fritzner
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...wonder how Fritzner Alphonse, the artist who painted the original of which the Lowell House poster is a print, would feel that his work is now "off-limits." Who is Fritzner? It turns out that he is a Haitian folk artist who was born on July 18, 1938 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He was leather tanner, like his father before him, until 1972, when at the age of 34 he painted his first tableau. He has been an artist ever since. Fritzner is part of a generation of Haitian artists to be influenced by the Centre d' Arte, which...
...Fritzner's background is an important factor in this controversy. Can one argue that the poster is racist, if the artist was depicting scenes from his own life in Haiti? Though it is more likely that Fritzner's work is honest and meaningful rather than a portrayal of blacks as watermelon-eaters, given the loaded image of this poster and the stereotype it evokes of Southern blacks, the Lowell House dining hall may be an inappropriate place to hang it, particularly because it was purchased by the former dining hall manager as a nice piece of decoration. Nonetheless, these issues...
...possible that Fritzner's print was hanging in an inappropriate location, that it belongs in a museum rather than next to steaming tray of General Wong's Chicken. But this is not an obvious conclusion; so before the poster is branded "racist" and permanently removed from the dining hall, the issues should be debated. In what ways can this print be read? Was Lowell House too hasty in its decision to remove the poster? Would a plaque providing information about the artist and his history be enough to allay fears of racism? And the crux of the matter, is Lowell...
Perhaps the print of Fritzner's painting should have been removed long ago because a five dollar poster among the many valuable portraits of dead white men that adorn the Lowell House dining Hall is out of place. But the issue of appropriateness never had the chance to come up, because the print was removed too quickly. Fritzner Alphonse and those who appreciate his art deserve a fair hearing...
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