Rent Day

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

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.

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