Archibald Motley, Cocktails, about 1926
Archibald Motley’s Cocktails evokes the sophistication of Black culture and glamour of Black women in the US at the beginning of the 20th century. By showing a group of well-dressed women enjoying alcoholic drinks—illegal during Prohibition—in an elegant room, Motley opposes previous assumptions of Black culture being a monolith and flips preconceived stereotypes on their head.