Last week, I attended a fine art show featuring a curated group of talented Black artists. One of the event’s speakers, Kevin John Goff, was the nephew of famed actress Hattie McDaniel, the first Black American to win an Oscar for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. As a long-time student of Classic Hollywood, I knew this was a talk I did not want to miss.
Kevin told Hattie’s story, some of which I knew, much of which I did not. Hattie was the daughter of formerly enslaved parents, her mother was a gospel singer, her father fought in the Civil War, her brother, Sam, and her sister, Etta, also worked as actors. When Gone with the Wind premiered in Atlanta in 1939, Hattie could not attend due to Georgia’s segregation laws. Kevin is working on a documentary about the life of this multi-talented performer.
As we sat in a room surrounded by gorgeous works of art, Kevin reminded us when we pay for art, especially high-priced items, we’re not just paying for the materials and time that go into the production of that art, we’re paying for the experiences of the artist.
In other words, not just anyone could create that particular work of art, only that particular artist could. He said we should not just take into consideration the artist’s learning, skills, and talent, but also their lived experiences, their family heritage, even the traumas…
