How Did Aaron Douglass Contribute To The Harlem Renaissance

Douglas's images depicted the lives and struggles of African Americans, and his artistic style fused his interests in modernism and African Art. " Douglas was heavily influenced by the African culture he painted for. His natural talent plus his newly acquired inspiration allowed Douglas to be considered the "Father of African American arts. " That title led him to say, (Kirschke)" Do not call me the Father of African American Arts, for I am just a son of Africa, and paint for what inspires

The visual arts was another arena in which African Americans strove to preserve and exhibit their culture and traditions, and contribute to their growth as a race. Renowned painters such as Aaron Douglas, Palmer Hayden, Archibald Motley, and Jacob Lawrence used unique artistic styles, such as “bold shapes and vivid colors” (), to produce works that exemplified racial dignity, depicted the everyday social life of the urban black working-class, interpreted black folklore, and portrayed

He is considered an important figure in the Harlem renaissance because his artwork explained in a deep way how african american life really was. Douglas’s art style was incorporating shadow art with cubist forms to create very deep and meaningful paintings. Some of his work includes his maybe most popular and first piece, The New Negro("Aaron Douglas." Biography.com). Other pieces include Let my People Go which is oil on masonite, Illustrations for The Crisis and Opportunity and Harriet Tubman, mural at Bennett College(Aaron Douglas." Biography.com).

Though I pride myself to be a student of history, I sadly know little about the life of Fredrick Douglass. His essay, “Learning to Read”, beautifully captured the significance of knowing how to read, and the obstacles that Douglass had to navigate through in order to learn how to read. Visiting the African American History museum’s exhibit on Fredrick Douglass elected me further my knowledge about the life of Fredrick Douglass, and acted as a nice companion to his essay. What shocked me the most when visiting the museum was the role that Douglass placed on photography as a tool for social reform. Douglass believed that by taking photos, most common self-portraits, he would tear apart the societal norms about what white Americans thought African

The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great cultural growth in the black community. It is accepted that it started in 1918 and lasted throughout the 1930s. Though named the ‘Harlem’ Renaissance, it was a country-wide phenomenon of pride and development among black Americans, the likes of which had never existed in such grand scale. Among the varying political actions and movements for equality, a surge of new art appeared: musical, visual, and even theatre. With said surge, many of the most well-known black authors, poets, musicians and actors rose to prevalence including Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Louis Armstrong, and Eulalie Spence.

The numerous collected work of Kerry James Marshall at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago exhibits paintings that focus on black subjects historically excluded from the artistic standard. Marshall’s imagery ranges from representational comic to abstraction and using pure black for the people and not anywhere else on his paintings. Born in 1955 as a black man, Marshall felt a social responsibility to speak about how life was and feels a lot of his determination is where he works is going to go. Depicting black subjects in everyday life, showing that people are all the same no matter what race they come from. Marshall paintings remind me of the Social Realist political movement during the 1920’s and 1930’s and the American Regionalism (American Scene Paintings).

The art illustrates two races going against each other but a peacemaker trying to settle the pace against them. The peacemaker symbolized the government's call to action, and showed that the government finally stepped in fighting for equal rights. All of the examples above, provide enough information to state that art was a way African Americans expressed their

The shame wasn’t a cause for them to turn away from the love for their culture, it just made the proud of their deep black beautiful roots. The black artists of the Harlem Renaissance put a visual scene to the joy, pain, laughter, tears, and the ugly truth within this endearing culture. The literature of the Harlem Renaissance gave an intellectual opinion in American during in the turn of the 20th century. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance have had a profound impact on the American society today.

African Americans lived in a world of racial injustices and cultural restrictions until the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time where there is an African American literary and art movement in the uptown Manhattan neighborhood. It is the turning point in African American culture, as well as their place in America. The African Americans were starting to become equal in American society. While the Renaissance built on earlier traditions of African American culture, it was greatly affected by the trends of the Europeans and white Americans.

The Harlem Renaissance was a burst on African American’s expression of culture, arts, and writings throughout the 1920’s. It was in Harlem, New York, the movement allowed many African American poets, painters, musicians, authors and philosophers to express the beliefs in their people's culture. They wanted to be equal to white people so they showed that through their talents. Louis Armstrong was a key asset to the Harlem Renaissance due to his inspiring music and playing his instruments for African Americans people during this period. Louis Armstrong was a pivotal musician in the twentieth century, but it was his contributions and his role he made during the Harlem Renaissance movement that is most substantial.

Douglas went to Harlem after hearing about the many other black artists. The Works Progress Administration appointed Douglas to paint the “Aspects of Negro Life”, in 1934. He created images of the struggles and life of African-Americans. He married a teacher, Alta Sawyer in 1926. Some of the paintings he created were the best-known paintings in the 1930s.

The Harlem Renaissance was a black literary and art movement that began in Harlem, New York. Migrants from the South came to Harlem with new ideas and a new type of music called Jazz. Harlem welcomed many African Americans who were talented. Writers in the Harlem Renaissance had separated themselves from the isolated white writers which made up the “lost generation” The formation of a new African American cultural identity is what made the Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation unique in American culture because it influenced white literacy and it was a sense of freedom for African Americans.

If they before were disregarded, in the 1920s their works were widespread. Harlem Renaissance has changed not only cultural but social and political position of African-Americans in American society. The mass migration to the North changed the image of the African-American person, he was not an ignorant and illiterate peasant anymore, he turned into a smart and educated representative of the Middle class. Thanks to this changes, African-Americans became the part of the American and then the world cultural and intellectual elite.

The Harlem Renaissance was a movement that reflected the culture of African Americans in an artistic way during the 1920’s and the 30’s. Many African Americans who participated in this movement showed a different side of the “Negro Life,” and rejected the stereotypes that were forced on themselves. The Harlem Renaissance was full of artists, musicians, and writers who wrote about their thoughts, especially on discrimination towards blacks, such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Langston Hughes. The Harlem Renaissance was an influential and exciting movement, and influenced others to fight for what they want and believed in. The Harlem Renaissance was the start of the Civil Rights Movement.

In reading the Douglas Narrative, I found that a lot of the themes and topics that we discussed in class came to the forefront. First, I recognize the relationship between Douglas and his mother. Separated at birth, he is denied the presence and affection that a child is supposed to receive in the shaping years. Douglas is aware that his father is rumored to be his master, Captain Anthony, which makes him a tragic mulatto. Tragic Mulatto is a person of mixed raced, typically mixed with black and white.