Louis Grube’s Old Stone House at Gowanus from the collection of the Brooklyn Historical Society presents a bucolic vision of Brooklyn as it might have been in the 1700s (despite the depiction of Downtown Brooklyn in the background.) How did the Brooklyn census of 1706, also from the Brooklyn Historical Society, change your view of what Brooklyn might have been like? How did the information included in this document change your idea of the painting?
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Initially the image was perceived as idyllic, serene, and somewhat nostalgic with lush green fields and blue skies. But after reviewing the census and learning about the presence of slaves, the dynamic changed from beautiful and serene to impoverished, desolate, poor and miserable. Lush green fields transformed into virgin land that had to be worked over to make a profit and the beautiful landscape only mocked the slaves that worked those lands.
Group 1 Members: Chen, Juan, Kenya
looking at the painting before looking at the census it seems peaceful it’s very scenic but it also looks isolated, in the background you’re able to see the city and more of a sign of life than you do in the area around the house. Once we looked at the census our perspective of the image changed it all of a sudden didn’t look so peaceful knowing how many slaves were there. The census gives the painting more history and meaning. It has a documentary type feel. The image doesn’t have a family friendly vibe to it anymore.
-Group 3- Ira mohammed, Carmen ma, Gianny Matias
In our first view, Brooklyn looked rural and rustic. It looked like there was some farmland, and didn’t seem too heavily populated, at least where the foreground farmhouse was concerned. It did seem as though there was a more heavily populated city in the background, however.
In the second view, after seeing the census, there seemed to be a more menacing view of Brooklyn. The fact that all homes seemed to employ slaves, made it seem less innocent and pastoral, than before. Brooklyn seemed more like an exploitative place than before we saw the census. It seemed like a sort of “backward” kind of place.
Group Members: John Johnson Mike Leon Regina Lovitt
Cynthia and Athena both agree that the house in the painting looks abandoned. Cynthia thinks that the middle house is where the slaves lived. Athena thinks that the salves would have lived in a building that was not connected to the main house. The second house would be called the “little house” where they had their summer kitchen. Our opinion did not change much after we saw the census, we had already known that there were slaves in the 1700’s. Maybe the reason that there is no livestock or crops shown in the painting is because slavery was abolished and the homestead is no longer being worked.
Group 4: Chris, Courtney, Khyriel
-Brooklyn in the 1700’s looked like a peaceful, calm suburban place. The place has dirt roads. It also looks quiet because there wasn’t anyone there.
-Brooklyn in the 1700’s with the census shows that the town in the back helps us identify that it was Brooklyn since on the Census there was a Huge number of people living in that area. The house in the Foreground must be Painted by a Slave from Newfolk. This town wasn’t connected to the rest of the other towns due to its distance.
Hi,:) This reply is from Group#5:Wing,Hansel & Hui
The Brooklyn census of 1706,also from the Brooklyn Historical Society, change the view of what Brooklyn might have been like.We as group believed the painting presents farm, one house but with a lot of space.Little further away we saw a lake.There were no cars nor people around.It gave the feeling of 17th hundred, and it is slowly developing.
Later,as we saw the information that included ,the census showed that they had many slaves,which emphasizes on the family in the 1700’s.One important thing that the houses created loneliness.