Aaron+Douglas

Picture Provided by http://people.virginia.edu/~sls8y/douglas/song.html Picture Provided by http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA03/staples/douglas/images/photo.s.jpg The Harlem Renaissance is a period of time after World War One to the beginning of World War Two. It was a time where there was a black movement to end racism and to gain rights. There was an increase in poetry, literature, and painting about the movement. Aaron Douglas is one of the most famous painters of this time. He was known as the “Dean of African American Painters” during this time period (si.umich). One of Douglas’ most famous paintings is “Song of the Towers”. “Song of the Towers” was one mural out of four murals that are called //Aspects of Negro Life.// This was sponsored by the Works Progress Administration. The murals show how African Americans migrated from Africa to the northern cities of America (xroads). “Song of the Towers” is a painting from the Harlem Renaissance time period. This painting presents three figures. There is a figure on the left, right, and in the middle. There is one figure on the right that appears to be caring a suitcase. This figure represents the escape of a black slave. There is a figure on the left appears to be grabbing his head as to where maybe he is going through some kind of struggle. The figure on the left actually represents the economic hardships that African Americas were going through during this period of time. The larger figure in the middle is playing an instrument. This figure represents the new opportunities art and music gave African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance time period. Each one of these figures displays a different aspect of The African Americans life during The Harlem Renaissance time period (artsedge.kennedy). The Harlem Renaissance was still at time where African Americans had their struggles. However they were moving in the right direction of gaining equality and ending the war with racism. 1.   “Aaron Douglas(1898-1979)”. __Harlem 1900-1940__. 1 March 2009.  2.   “Aspects of a Negro Life: Song of the Towers, 1934”. __Jazz Roots: Painting the Scene Jazz__. 1 March 2009.  3.   “ Aaron Douglas”. __Drop Me off in Harlem__. 1 March 2009. 

 Aaron Douglas born on May 26, 1899, in Topeka, Kansas; is a famous African American artist of the Harlem Renaissance. Douglas was known for his amazing murals, paintings, and illustrations about the life and history of people of color. His work showed how blacks contributed to society a long time before the civil rights movement. His work inspired many artists and painters and still does today. Aaron Douglas earned a B.F.A. degree in 1922 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 1923 Douglas began teaching art at Lincoln High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He taught there for two years before moving to New York to join in on the “New Negro Movement” also known as “The Harlem Renaissance.” Young artists, writers, musicians, and playwrights in Harlem believed art and creative expression could help bring whites and blacks together as one people. Douglas expressed his opinion against segregation, racism, and anti-black civil rights through his paintings. Douglas worked with writers to help put their points across in their books with his artwork. He combined traditional African American motifs and modernist forms showing African American life, labor, and history. In 1938 Douglas began teaching at Fisk University in Nashville. There he founded the art department and taught for more than thirty years. He retired from Fisk University in 1966. He received a doctorate from the school seven years later in 1973. Aaron Douglas died in 1979. **Sources** http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/harlem/artsedge.html http://www.fatherryan.org/harlemrenaissance/