<I>Rent Day</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1885
name: label: Created by
content: Alfred Kappes, 1850 - 1894
notes: label: Description
content: An oil painting depicting a landlord and his tenants, titled Rent Day, by Alfred Kappes. The painted scene shows an older white man, the landlord, at left and a Black couple, the tenants, at right, seated on a window seat beneath a softly lit window. The gray-haired landlord wears a black suit over a white dress shirt and black bow tie, a brown overcoat, and holding a black top hat in his proper left hand. He is turned towards the couple on the far right with a watchful expression in his face. The couple, who appear to be husband and wife, are an older man and woman, seated together on the far-right side of the bench. The husband, left, is seated facing the viewer. He is looking down at a gold ring he is holding up at chest level in his hands. He is wearing a brown vest over a white shirt and trousers that both show signs of having been mended multiple times. The wife, right, is slightly turned and leaning towards her husband. She has a serious expression on her face as she looks down towards the ring in the man’s hands. She has a white kerchief with thin red stripes wrapped around her head and wears a shawl and apron over a pink dress. She is also holding a gold band ring in her proper left hand and a small, open box in her proper right hand that rests in her lap. In between the man and the couple is a small pile of paper money and coins. The window behind them is short and elongated, and partially covered with a gauzy curtain. A small plant sits on the windowsill between the curtain and the window. The walls below the window, and on either side of the figures, are stained, chipping, and peeling. One large patch on the far left, exposes the wooden boards beneath the plaster. Just above the damaged wall are two overlapping prints tacked up on the wall. Below the figures’ feet are wide wooden floorboard planks.
label: Description
content: The portrait is mounted inside a large, ornate frame of carved, medium tone wood. The interior window frame has a gilt band of raised, half-round, bead moldings surrounding a gilt interior band. On the verso, at the top center of the frame, are the initials [SG] written in white.
place: label: Place made
content: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Domestic life
label: Topic
content: Housing
label: Topic
content: Poverty
label: Topic
content: Race relations
label: Topic
content: Urban life
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Margaret C. "Peggy" Arundel in loving memory of her husband Arthur W. "Nick" Arundel
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2024.6
objectType: label: Type
content: oil paintings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No known copyright restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: oil paint on canvas with wood and metal
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (frame): 40 3/4 × 52 3/4 × 3 in. (103.5 × 134 × 7.6 cm)