ARH 3631 FINAL PRESENTATIONBy Bryan Engle

AARON DOUGLAS1899-1979

CRISIS BOOK COVER (1927)

Aaron Douglas’ was a sought after illustrator for books and magazines in the 1920s. He created covers for Opportunity, FIRE!! And Harlem. His most prominent works of that time period was this cover for the book The Crisis which involved Afro-Cubism influenced shapes to form a very unique piece of art.

THE NEGRO IN AFRICAN SETTING: PANEL 1 (1934)

In this panel, Douglas depicts the African roots through the form of dance. The two dancers shown are dancing away to the beat of the drummers in the background as they follow the rhythmic beat.

FROM SLAVERY THROUGH RECONSTRUCTION: PANEL 2 (1934)

In this piece, we see a prominent figure standing above everyone else with an outstretched, pointed finger. Douglas portrayed this man as a speaker, spreading his beliefs among the other African-Americans that gather around him.

AN IDYLL OF THE DEEP SOUTH: PANEL 3 (1934)

Despite the hardships that surrounded and involved the African-American society at this point in time, they still found a reason to celebrate. Through song and dance, they pushed away all of the negatives and rejoiced in the positives.

SONG OF THE TOWERS: PANEL 4 (1934)

With the hardships that were presented to the African-American community, a new self-expression movement was born. This translated into the New Negro movement which helped create some of the most prominent African-American artists we study today.

JACOB LAWRENCE(1917-2000)

THEY WERE VERY POOR (1940)

This piece shows the hardships that affected many African-Americans during this time period. Not many families had much money to put enough food on the table. This caused extreme stress and unhappiness throughout the community.

THE WEDDING (1948)

This piece shows the usual exchange of vows of an African-American couple getting married. The bright colors create a very appealing scene of an important moment between two people.

THE MIGRANTS ARRIVED IN GREAT NUMBERS (1940-41)

This depicts the great migration that happened during the first World War. Many African-Americans moved to the North where northern industries had many job opportunities.

THE MIGRATION OF THE NEGRO: PANEL 50 (1940-41)

The African-Americans that migrated to the North didn’t always find a perfect life. Hardships still followed them into the northern US as they try to compete for jobs and make a living.

THE MIGRATION OF THE NEGRO: PANEL 1 (1940-41)

This shows the migration in all of its glory. Thousands of African-Americans flocked to the transportation centers to try and get a ride to these northern cities to find an industrial job during the World War.

The reason I chose Aaron Douglas and Jacob Lawrence is because both of the African-American artists prevailed during the Harlem Renaissance Era. With them, they brought a great deal of influential pieces that would shape the way that African-Art was created following them. Without these two artists, we would not have seen some of the major artists that came years after them. Douglas created paintings that reflected the roots of all African-Americans and used geometric figures to give all of his works a sense of movement that we had not seen before him. Lawrence hit on a major subject during the first World War and into the 1930s. The migration of the African-American community was the first major breach into the Northern society for these people and he helped depict the different triumphs and hardships that came along with this transition. Both of these artists became very well known throughout the world which was huge for African-American art at the time. With this prominence and significant step in the artistic world, it provided stepping stones for younger less-known artists to create their foothold. The development of African-American art was essential to the well-being of Douglas and Lawrence.

Curatorial Statement