‘Race Is Everything’ looks at ideas of ‘racial science’ in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, and how art was influenced by them. It looks at race in general, but with a particular concentration on attitudes towards and representations of people of African and Jewish descent. David Bindman argues that behind all racial ideas is the belief that outward appearance, and especially skull-shape, can be correlated with inner character and intelligence, and that these could be used to create a seemingly scientific hierarchy of races.
This book considers many aspects, including the skull as a racial marker; ancient Egypt as a precedent for Southern slavery; Darwin, race and aesthetics; the ‘Mediterranean race’; the visual aspects of eugenics; and the racial politics of Emil Nolde.