After a Long Cruise

John Carlin

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Born deaf and mute, Carlin initially pursued a career as a painter of portrait miniatures, later turning his attention to genre and landscape scenes. He was untiring in his efforts on behalf of people who shared his condition and helped to establish the National Deaf-Mute College (now Gallaudet University) in Washington, D.C., in 1864. "After a Long Cruise," a comic view of daily life on a dock, displays the bawdy humor popular at midcentury. Three drunken sailors wreak havoc by accosting a well-dressed black woman and knocking over a fruit-and-nut vendor’s stand. Carlin’s attention to detail, seen especially in the costumes and ships’ riggings, and his use of vibrant color are striking.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art