I know getting heated over internet BS is a Prime Waste of Time, but Youtube's algorithm has thrown an artist into my sphere that never fails to grind my gears.
She finds artwork of minorities drawn throughout history...
Lithograph by Louisa Corbaux | Watercolor illustration by Sylvie Covey
Redrawing racist caricature imagery of east Asians into art by Akari_edits_arts | Tiana and Lottie in vintage asthetic by Akari_edits_arts
Now, to be fair, I'm not going to sit here and say that the original works aren't flawed, right? But the context in which these pieces were created is important, and that context has been removed from the now-viral social media posts.
The lithograph depicts a quote and characters from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, one of the most impactful anti-slavery works in American history. It's clear the lithograph is meant to support that work, and neither character is a caricature.
The other, by Sylvie Covey, is one of many quick watercolor sketches she drew while traveling through Thailand and Indonesia in the 1970's. She spent years in the area, and her work depicts real people using the limited palette in what I imagine must've been Windsor and Newton's travel set. Somehow that information is left out of the new artist's rendition-- I had to do a decent amount of digging to find the source.
All of that to say, context-- especially when looking at pieces from a different time period-- is so, so, so important. I know people have differing opinions as to whether we can hold people of the past to modern standards of decency, but when we talk about the past, it's our responsibility to present the full context so the viewer can draw their own (informed) conclusions.
Please do not seek out this artist; I included the artist's name here solely for the purpose of properly crediting their work. Not all of their work falls into this category.