1. Meaghan M. Walsh Publishes Article and Authors Book Chapter

By Lily Caldwell
September 15, 2025

Meaghan M. Walsh,Louise C. Herreshoff Curatorial Fellow for American Art at Washington and Lee University, recently published an article titled, "Cakewalking the Color Line: George Luks, Racial Doublings, and Performance at the Turn of the Twentieth Century," in Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art.

The essay, which was published in June in a roundtable discussion about Blackness and the Ashcan School, investigates the work of George Luks, an American realist painter and comic artist known for his images of New York City. Walsh dissects Luks' caricature, parody and painting work across his career and highlights problematic racial influences in his artwork that he used to shape his role in the art world. Walsh argues that Luks' work showcases the complex relationship between Blackness, performance and modernism at the turn of the 20th century and how artists like Luks used these ideas to stand out.

Additionally, Walsh published a chapter in an interdisciplinary book on humor titled, "Humour in Times of Confrontation, 1901 to the Present," published by Routledge Press. Walsh's chapter titled, "Caricaturising the City: Humour and Racial Difference in New York City at the Turn of the Twentieth Century," also focuses on the work of George Luks, examining how Luks used stereotypes and caricature to exhibit racial and ethnic differences. Walsh discusses the limitations of using such comic devices as markers of distinction.

Walsh is currently in her first year at W&L. Before W&L, she worked as a research associate and lecturer and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Virginia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in art history from Virginia, a Master of Arts in art history from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. in philosophy and art history from Virginia.

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