This walkthrough provides directions on how to move through the exhibition Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour. It identifies where key objects are located, and provides access to labels and wall text online. If you would like more in-depth verbal descriptions of the objects in this exhibition, please reach out to GroupsandTours@moma.org to request a guided tour.
Gallery 1
At the exhibition’s entrance, to your left, there is a dark red wall with the title of the exhibition in large black letters, Issac Julien: Lessons of the Hour. Pass through the automatic sliding glass doors about three paces and the intro text is on the wall in front of you and slightly to your right.
Read the exhibition introduction
In Lessons of the Hour (2019), British artist and filmmaker Sir Isaac Julien presents an immersive, multifaceted portrait of American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who liberated himself from chattel slavery in 1838 and became one of the most important orators, writers, and statespersons of the nineteenth century. Displayed across ten video screens, Lessons of the Hour composes a nonlinear narrative about Douglass's life and work using excerpts from several of his orations, autobiographies, personal correspondence, and theories about photography. As the most photographed American of his era, Douglass profoundly understood portraiture's ability to challenge racist stereotypes and advance the freedom of Black Americans and subjugated peoples around the world. His ideas about civil rights, citizenship, and democracy offer, Julien notes, “a historical lineage to all the debates we're involved in ourselves."
This presentation of Lessons of the Hour brings together for the first time a select group of nineteenth-century objects related to its main scenes, including photographic portraits of Douglass, pamphlets of his orations, first-edition memoirs, and a facsimile of one of his rare manuscripts on photography. A specially designed wallpaper comprising reproductions of period newspapers and magazine illustrations, among other materials, is also featured. Together with the photographs and assorted ephemera, Lessons of the Hour attests to how Douglass's image continues to resonate as powerfully as his words.
Organized by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, The Steven and Lisa Tananbaum Curator, with Erica DiBenedetto, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture. Leadership support for the exhibition is provided by the Xin Zhang and Shiyi Pan Endowment Fund. Major funding is provided by the Wallis Annenberg Director's Fund for Innovation in Contemporary Art.
Additional support is provided by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Leadership contributions to the Annual Exhibition Fund, in support of the Museum's collection and collection exhibitions, are generously provided by the Sandra and Tony Tamer Exhibition Fund, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, Eva and Glenn Dubin, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Kenneth C. Griffin, Alice and Tom Tisch, the Marella and Giovanni Agnelli Fund for Exhibitions, Mimi Haas, The David Rockefeller Council, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz, Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr., The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, and The Young Patrons Council of The Museum of Modern Art. Major contributions to the Annual Exhibition Fund are provided by The Sundheim Family Foundation. For related content, programs, and a transcript of Lessons of the Hour, visit moma.org/isaacjulien.
If you rotate to the right from facing the introductory text, you will find a vertical case holding a black-and-white daguerreotype portrait of Frederick Douglass. Labels containing the work’s title and additional information are to the left of the portrait.
Read the label for Frederick Douglass c.1855
Southworth and Hawes Boston, Massachusetts, active 18431862 Frederick Douglass c. 1845 Whole-plate daguerreotype Onondaga Historical Association, Syracuse, NY
Scholars believe that this portrait was taken sometime in the months before Douglass went abroad to England, Scotland, and Ireland in 184547; during this trip, he acquired his manumission, or legal release from his enslaver. Douglass understood that dignifying images of Black people such as this portrait could help combat the dehumanization of Black individuals, and photography figured prominently in his fight for emancipation. That he sat for Southworth and Hawes, a preeminent studio in Boston, Massachusetts, attests to his public prominence less than five years into his career on the abolitionist circuit. The size and technical mastery of this daguerreotype make it exemplary among the 168 known photographs of Douglass.
Gallery 2
To go deeper into the exhibition, walk away from the glass doors (the red wall will be on your left) about eight paces. In this second small gallery you may notice the wallpaper that covers all three walls from floor to ceiling. A text label describes the wallpaper. Directly in front of you is an angled case with six objects inside. Each object has a label, some with additional information and context. Labels linked here identify objects from left to right. Above the case is a framed black and white photograph of Frederick Douglass with a label to its right.
Read the label for Wallpaper
This wallpaper collage illustrates aspects of Douglass’s biography. It reproduces pictures of Douglass’s home in Washington, DC, and of abolitionist photographer James Presley Balls studio in Cincinnati, Ohio; announcements and press coverage of speeches excerpted in Lessons of the Hour; handwritten correspondence concerning Douglasss manumission (or release from his enslaver) and travels abroad; and the lyrics to a Scottish song, inspired by a campaign Douglass waged against the Free Church of Scotland, in which he urged them to send back the money they had accepted from American slaveholders. While the aforementioned materials relate to several scenes in Lessons of the Hour, the wallpaper also shows pages from the four newspapers Douglass founded, clippings from other news outlets, ephemera assembled in family scrapbooks, and engravings and lithographs.
Digital Image Sources:
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven
Walter O. Evans Collection of Frederick Douglass and Douglass Family Papers. James
Weldon Johnson Collection in the Yale Collection of American Literature
Randolph Linsly Simpson African-American Collection. James Weldon Johnson
Memorial Collection in the Yale Collection of American Literature
Boston Public Library Rare Books Department
Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
The Image of the Black in Western Art Research Project and Photo Archive, W. E. B. Du
Bois Institute for African and African American Research
Widener Library
Lavery Library, Special Collections, St. John Fisher University, Rochester
Library Company of Philadelphia
Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Manuscript Division, The Frederick Douglass Papers
Prints and Photographs Division
Rare Book and Special Collections Division Serial and Government Publications Division
National Library of Scotland, Special Collections, Edinburgh
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
The New York Public Library
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Rochester Ladies Anti-Slavery Society Papers, 18481868, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Read the labels for the works in the case of 6 objects
From left to right:
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: Written by Himself 1845
Publisher: Anti-Slavery Office, Boston
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York
My Bondage and My Freedom: Part I. Life as a Slave; Part II.Life as a Freeman, by Frederick Douglass 1855
Publisher: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, New York
Collection Sir Isaac Julien
Oration, Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, by Frederick Douglass, July 5th, 1852
Printer: Lee, Mann & Co., Rochester
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York
When Douglass gave this speech to an audience of abolitionists as part of an Independence Day commemoration, he had been legally free for almost six years, but the institution of slavery was still in place. The following quote, featured in a scene of Lessons of the Hour, conveys his main argument:
“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy–a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.”
Address by Hon. Frederick Douglass, delivered in the Metropolitan A. M. E. Church, Washington, DC, Tuesday, January 9th, on The Lessons of the Hour: In Which He Discusses the Various Aspects of the So Called, but Mis-Called, Negro Problem. 1894
Publisher: Press of Thomas & Evans, Baltimore
The title of this installation refers to the last major speech Douglass delivered before his death in 1895. Douglass appears on the pamphlet cover as an elder statesman, his distinguished image an assertion of his citizenship in the face of anti-Black racism, which included lynchings, voter suppression, and dehumanizing caricatures, as well as other forms of social, political, and economic disenfranchisement. All, he points out, were meant to prevent Black citizens full participation in democracy.
Samuel Montague Fasset American, 1825–1910 Portrait of Frederick Douglass Taken during the Civil War 1864 Albumen silver print (carte de visite) The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Arthur M. Bullowa Fund
Benjamin F. Powelson American, 1823–1885 Portrait of Anna Douglass c. 1860–67 Albumen silver print (carte de visite) The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York
Douglass wrote a series of lectures about photography during the first half of the 1860s, around the time these images were taken. One of these manuscripts is excerpted in Lessons of the Hour and is on display as a facsimile in the next case. In it, Douglass observed that through photography men of all conditions may see themselves as others see them. He also believed that photographs could serve as a means of self-representation for sitters, no matter one's race, class, or gender. Douglass preferred to pose with a plain backdrop to encourage viewers to focus on his personhood. His first wife, Anna, whose domestic work supported his public life, does so here.
Above the case is a black and white photograph.
Read the label for the photograph
George Kendall Warren American, 1834–1884
Frederick Douglass 1876
Albumen silver print from glass negative (cabinet card)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase
When in front of the first case, you may hear the soundtrack of the video installation to your left. Turn right, with your back to the soundtrack, and walk four paces to the next case. This angled case contains 10 manuscript pages laid out in a horizontal row. The leftmost manuscript has a label underneath it.
Read the label for the works in the case
Facsimile of the first ten pages of the manuscript for Lecture on Pictures, delivered by Frederick Douglass at Tremont Temple, Boston, December 3, 1861
The Frederick Douglass Papers,
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Gallery 3
From the manuscript case, turn around and walk back toward the sound of the videos, into the next room of the exhibition. After about seven paces, you will cross a threshold into a very dark space with plush red carpeting on the floor.
Just inside the threshold, on the left wall are credits and text with information about the video installation ahead. On the right wall is a label with basic information about the work of art, as well as information about how to access sound amplification and a video transcript.
Read credits for Lessons of the Hour
Lessons of the Hour was commissioned by the Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, in partnership with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, and with generous support from Mark Falcone and Ellen Bruss; the Zell Family; Ford Foundation; VIA Art Fund; Lori Van Dusen; the Arts Division of the University of California, Santa Cruz; Deborah Ronnen; Sherman Levey; and Carol Weinbaum.
The following MoMA staff contributed to the making of this exhibition:
Art Handling: Steve Burkart, Brent Kjelsvig-Erickson, Tom Krueger, Mark Murchison, Mouse Sturzlinger
Audio Visual Design: Howard Deitch, Aaron Harrow, Travis Kray, Mitch Leitschuh, Zach Prewitt, Jordan Rose
Carpentry Shop: Craig Anderson, Chris DaSilva, Jason Fry, Michael Greathouse, Allan Smith, Gray Stockmayer, Chris Weems, John Wood
Collection and Exhibition Information: Jaye Melino
Conservation: Amy Brost, Lee Ann Daffner, Kate Lewis, Madeline (made) Smith, Catherine Stephens, Annie Wilker
Department of Media and Performance: Brian Block, Stuart Comer, Erica Papernik
Department of Painting and Sculpture: Lindsay LeBoyer
Department of Photography: Tasha Lutek, Roxana Marcoci, Oluremi C. Onabanjo
Exhibition Design and Production: Michele Arms, Matthew Cox, Hiroko Ishikawa
Exhibition Planning and Administration: Maya Taylor
Frame Shop: Karlos Carcamo, Doug Hollingsworth, Amy Kao, Ryan Magyar, Matthew Osiol, Peter Perez, Hiroshi Tachibana
General Counsel: Ava Childers, Jae Lee, Lena Saltos
Graphic Design: Claire Adkisson, Kevin Ballon, Claire Corey, Julian Pozzi, Stina Sawdust
Interpretation and Editorial: Sara Bodinson, Oriana Gonzales, Annie Leist, Jackie Neudorf, Francesca Rosenberg
Light Shop: Ray Martin, Debbie Page, Andrew Tedeschi
Paint Shop: James Allgeier, Daniel Charbonnier, Paul Errico, Sami Gashi
Registration: Kellie Feltman, Sarah Primm
Additional thanks to the following museum departments: Archives, Library, and Research Collections; Communications; Creative Team; Development; Facilities and Safety; Imaging and Visual Resources; Institutional Giving; Learning and Engagement; Marketing; Membership; Research Programs; Security; Special Programming and Events; and Visitor Engagement.
Special thanks to Celeste-Marie Bernier, Eric Brun, Tom Cullen, and Isaac Julien Studio.
Read label for Lessons of the Hour
Isaac Julien
British, born 1960
Lessons of the Hour 2019
Ten-channel 4K video and 35mm film transferred to high-definition video (color, sound; 28:46 min.) and ten projection screens
The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the generosity of the Ford Foundation
Read the extended text for Lessons of the Hour
A series of vignettes unfolds across ten screens of different sizes, presenting moments from Douglass's life after he achieved freedom from slavery. While many aspects of the film are historically accurate, events do not appear in chronological order, and some scenes blend fact and fiction. Julien intended for Lessons of the Hour to be less an exact account of Douglass's biography and more a character study centered around the issues of race and representation that the abolitionist raised in his work.
The film also combines reconstructed scenes from Douglass's life with actual black-and-white surveillance footage of the 2015 Freddie Gray protests in Baltimore, one of the places where Douglass had been enslaved. Gray, a twenty-five-year-old Baltimore resident, was arrested and died while in police custody in April 2015. Explaining his decision to juxtapose the past and present, Julien said: "You want the images to operate on the aesthetic, intellectual, and political level, to resonate with the audience in ways which connect them to the historical issues."
As you proceed further into the dark space, you will be entering the largest room of the exhibition. It has cushioned bench seating along its left wall and 10 large hanging screens on the right showing video projections. The screens are different sizes and hang at different heights.
Exit
When you’re ready to exit the exhibition, you may continue walking through the long dark room, keeping the videos on your right, to a red double door at the far end. You may also exit by retracing your steps back to the automatic sliding glass doors.
