Early Modern Blog

The influence of African Americans on Early Modern Art

The Harlem Renaissance was between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression and the lead up to World War II.  This is when African Americans moved in large numbers from the South to the North.  It is considered a "golden age" in African American culture that included literature, music, stage performance and art.

Although this cultural movement centered in Harlem, New York it was a national and even international movement influencing African American culture and art.  The Harlem Renaissance brought awareness to the African American culture.  African American artists helped push for social and political change for African Americans and combat stereotyping.  There were many artists that were part of this movement.  I have chosen Aaron Douglas, Archibald Motley, and Lois Mailou Jones.  They each had a significant role in African American art each in a different way.

Into Bondage, Aaron Douglas, c. 1936

Aaron Douglas (1899-1979) was born in Topeka, Kansas. After high school he attended the University of Nebraska where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts.  He taught high school art for two years before moving to New York City to pursue his art career.  Douglas is sometimes referred to as “the father of Black American art” because his style combined modernism with African and African American motifs that celebrated Black culture and identity.  Douglas not only created paintings, but he also illustrated books, and created paintings and murals for buildings.  Douglas’s themes explored the African American experience such as oppression, the struggle for freedom and slavery.

Into Bondage is part of a four panel mural series that he was commissioned to create.  The murals depict the journey of African Americans from slavery to present day.  For this art analysis, I have selected Into Bondage.  The painting depicts African American people forced to walk to their enslavement in America.  There is a subject in the forefront of the picture who is gazing up at a star in the sky.  The subject stands proud and seems to accept their fate.

Douglas uses color in several different ways in this picture.  First, he uses a contrasting copper orange color for the shackles which stand out brightly against the slaves who are shades of blue which emphasize the meaning of the picture.  He also uses a darker shade of blues and greens to create depth with the dark foliage and lighter blues and greens to create a far-off horizon.  The use of geometric shapes reflects the African and African American culture.

I like this painting.  It is very powerful.  It clearly shows the struggles faced by African Americans. 

Blues, Archibald Motley, c. 1929

Archibald Motley, Jr. (1891-1981) was an American painter who is identified with the Harlem Renaissance.  He is best known for his cheerful depictions of Black social life and jazz culture.  His work depicted the black community, mostly Chicago’s African American elites, as well as migrants from the South.  Motley recognized that African American artists were overlooked and not supported.  He had strong convictions to change this view and wrote “The Negro in Art” that was published in the Chicago Defender. 

Blues is a Harlem Renaissance oil painting.  It is held by a private collector.  Motley uses rich colors that give the picture a feeling of motion and the vibe within the club.  The subjects fill up nearly the entire canvas providing the viewer with many different things to look at rather than having one subject placed in the middle of canvas that serves as the primary focal point.  He also uses color to depict the different skin tones.  This is a different element that we have seen in our previous eras. 

I like this painting and the funky vibe.  The style doesn’t fit with my home’s décor, but I would enjoy seeing this painting in person along with Motley’s other paintings. 

 

 Negro Youth, Lois Mailou Jones, c. 1929

Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998) was raised in Boston by a middle-class family.  She studied art at Boston High School of Practical Arts, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Designers of Art School of Boston.   As part of the Harlem Renaissance, her art style highlighted social struggles.  She was also known for her work as a teacher and role model for African American artists.  She founded the art department at Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina and later in her career taught at Howard University in Washington, DC.  At Howard University she trained African American artists for 30 years.

Jones created her artwork in wide variety of styles that ranged from traditional landscape to African-themed abstracts.  I have chosen to discuss the art elements of the Negro Youth.  This is charcoal on paper measuring 29X22 inches.  It is currently displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.  Jones uses charcoal to capture a real-life image of the boy.  She creates texture in the collar of the boy’s sweater and his hair.  Her use of light captures and highlights his profile while downplaying his neck and head. 

I like charcoal drawings.  I think that charcoal drawings would be more difficult to create than a painting with many color options.  The artist has one color that they have to control through pressure, blending and erasing to create their image. 

Works Cited

Harlem Renaissance ‑ Definition, Artists & How It Started, www.history.com/topics/1920s/harlem-renaissance. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

“See Aaron Douglas Displaying Some of His Murals.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., https://www.britannica.com/video/A-Study-of-Negro-Artists-Aaron-Douglas/-202483. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

“Into Bondage.” Art Object Page, www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.166444.html. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

“Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist.” Whitney Museum of American Art, whitney.org/exhibitions/archibald-motley. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

Howard, dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1162&amp=&context=finaid_manu. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.