Jasmine Washington: The Banjo Lesson

Know your history:

In my sociology class earlier this year we were reading about this, I found it interesting as it pertains to music. I thought it would be cool fact to know given that we talked about music (art). The painting also speaks and gives a history lesson in itself. We all stereotypically associate the Banjo with country-folk or that “ole country white folk only” music. But in all actuality, the instrumented originated from African Slaves. Once settled into the ‘new life’ in the Americas, the slaves re-created the culture from their homeland. The banjo came about from slaves trying to create the instruments from their homeland. Since so many slaves came from different cultures, the attempt to re-create old instruments only created completely new instruments. One of which is the Banjo. This paint by Henry Tanner done in 1893 entitled , ‘The Banjo Lesson’ depicts the significance of this instrument in the African-American culture.

The original of this painting currently hangs on the Campus of Hampton University.