I'd like to think it's a lesson, but the white man's so holding that banjo like it's a commodity. And he's looking at the player's mouth instead of his fingers, suggesting that he's waiting for him to say "I'll take it" rather than trying to memorize the fingering so that he can emulate it. And he's wearing a pin-stripe suit. and that must be the check-out at his elbow there. The black man's better dressed (in my opinion), and his boots suggest he came on horseback. But you can tell by his face that he's been through a lot.
No, there are no depictions of THE LESSON in art. Not across that particular divide. Not that I've seen. But it must have happened. It wasn't all theft. It wasn't all corking up. Some of it was musical emulation and desire for continuity and musical community. No?
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