Art During The Harlem Renaissance

There were many notable events taking place in the years 1900-1940, some being Pablo Picasso painting one of the first cubist paintings is 1907 , the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 , the 18th Amendment being added to the Constitution (prohibiting the use of intoxicating liquors) and then being repealed in 1933 , the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote in 1920 , Amelia Earhart becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in 1928 , and the list continues. Undoubtedly one of the most influential of events during this time was the Harlem Renaissance. Even with its many leaders and innovators, it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective had it not been for Alain LeRoy Locke: black writer, philosopher, and teacher who influenced black artists to look to African sources for pride and inspiration. Without Locke’s contribution, the Renaissance would not have flourished as much as it did, and black pride would have taken longer to develop and accept.

In our era today, as you proceed through life, there is discrimination against races. As much as we would like to witness things change for the better we won’t due to some people not taking the chance to rewire their hatred. But in the early 1900’s, some black middle-class families immigrated to Harlem, New York, which at the time was an upper-class white neighborhood. The White’s tried to kick the African Americans out, but ultimately failed. In 1910-1930 African Americans in Harlem have changed what the city was like back then, now it is known for its African American culture. They also created a period called the Harlem Renaissance that is considered a golden age in African American culture. This was a time when they had an artistic explosion,

The Harlem Renaissance was a time where creativity flourished throughout the African American community. At the time many African Americans were treated as second class citizens. The Harlem Renaissance acted as artistic and cultural outlet for the African-American community. The Harlem Renaissance, otherwise known as “The New Negro Movement” was an unexpected outburst of creative activity among African Americans In the poems Harlem by Langston Hughes, America by Claude McKay, and Incident by Countee Cullen all use frustration and hope as reoccurring themes to help empower the African-American population and realize the injustices they face day to day. The Harlem Renaissance was a period marked by great change and forever altered the

Jacob Lawrence's was born in 1917 and was an acclaimed African-American artist known for his detailed works that included the Migration Series and the War Series (Duggleby 7). His style consisted of water-based paintings portraying African-Americans life experiences in blacks and browns mixed with many bright and bold colors. Lawrence’s inspirations were based on Black Aesthetics and lives of black historical figures.

SURREALISM AND HARLEM RENNAISANCE Comparing and Contrasting the Two Art Periods “Surrealism and Harlem Renaissance”

“The best of humanity's recorded history is a creative balance between horrors endured and victories achieved, and so it was during the Harlem Renaissance.” states Aberjhani this is a quote from the Harlem Renaissance . The Harlem Renaissance was an artistic movement that had took place in the 1920s. Art in the Harlem Renaissance lead to many social changes; some of which happened to be the reason that brought many people together. However, at the same time, it split people apart because of the many controversies it had created, and how Langston Hughes was not considered a good author until now.

The Harlem Renaissance stands as one of the greatest cultural, social and artistic movements in U.S. history. This time period consisted of a migration of black Americans from rural Southern states such as Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana to urban Harlem, New York. Originally called, the “New Negro Movement” meaning, many believed this brought a new black cultural identity to an almost all white culture. At this time, Langston Hughes, famous Harlem Renaissance author, wrote many controversial pieces about slavery, he mentions that “they send him to eat in the kitchen” (Hughes 1) which describes how many slaves suffered in these days. For America, this movement helped redefine how America saw the African American community, and it helped set the stage for the Civil Rights Movement of 1950-1960.

The Harlem Renaissance was “variously known as the New Negro movement, the New Negro Renaissance, and the Negro Renaissance, the movement emerged toward the end of World War I in 1918, blossomed in the mid- to late 1920s, and then withered in the mid-1930s. The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time mainstream publishers, critics took African American literature seriously, and that African American literature and arts attracted significant attention from the nation as a whole (1).”

During the 1920’s a new movement began to arise. This movement known as the Harlem Renaissance expressed the new African American culture. The new African American culture was expressed through the writing of books, poetry, essays, the playing of music, and through sculptures and paintings. Three poems and their poets express the new African American culture with ease. (Jordan 848-891) The poems also express the position of themselves and other African Americans during this time. “You and Your Whole Race”, “Yet Do I Marvel”, and “The Lynching” are the three poems whose themes are the same. The poets of these poems are, as in order, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Claude Mckay.

“The Harlem Renaissance was a time where the Afro-American came of age; he became self-assertive and racially conscious… he proclaimed himself to be a man and deserving respect. Those Afro-Americans who were part of that time period saw themselves as principals in that moment of transformation from old to new” (Huggins 3). African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers to seek better lives than in the South as the northern economy was booming and industrial jobs were numerous. This movement brought new ideas and talents that shifted the culture forever. Black writers, such as Langston Hughes, used their work to claim a place for themselves and to demand self-respect in society. Poems that Langston Hughes wrote captured the essence of the complexity of a life that mixes joy and frustration of black American life through the incorporation of jazz and blues in order to examine the paradox of being black in mostly white America, the land of the not quite free.

The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and literary period of growth promoting a new African American cultural identity in the United States. The years of 1920 and 1990 and “were clear peak periods of African American cultural production.” During these years blacks were able to come together and form a united group that expressed a desire for enlightenment. “It is difficult not to recognize the signs that African Americans are in the midst of a cultural renaissance” (English 807). This renaissance allowed Blacks to have a uniform voice in a society based upon intellectual growth. The front-runners of this revival were extremely focused on cultural growth through means of intellect, literature, art and music. By using these means

The Harlem Renaissance represents the rebirth and flowering of African-American culture. Although the Harlem Renaissance was concentrated in the Harlem district of New York City, its legacy reverberated throughout the United States and even abroad, to regions with large numbers of former slaves or blacks needing to construct ethnic identities amid a dominant white culture. The primary means of cultural expression during the Harlem Renaissance were literature and poetry, although visual art, drama, and music also played a role in the development of the new, urban African-American identity. Urbanization and population migration prompted large numbers of blacks to move away from the Jim Crow south, where slavery had only transformed into institutionalized racism and political disenfranchisement. The urban enclave of Harlem enabled blacks from different parts of the south to coalescence, share experiences, and most importantly, share ideas, visions, and dreams. Therefore, the Harlem Renaissance had a huge impact in framing African-American politics, social life, and public institutions.

Folk Art: Jazz, Blues, Folktales, Dance: The Harlem Renaissance During the nineteenth- mid-twentieth century, folk became very popular and widely known within the United State of America. Folk art is considered as the agents of a conventional lifestyle and particularly as the originators or bearers of the traditions, convictions, and expressions that make up an unmistakable culture. When people started to realize their potential and became open to the public about their abilities, the folk art began to become more diverse.

I always found the 1920’s a very interesting decade as it went from a lively moment to a depressing and struggling one within a split second. Therefore, I believe that I learned all of the concepts pretty well. For instance, I learned about the Harlem Renaissance, the cause and effect of The Dust Bowl, and the lasting political argument of the New Deal in the United States. First of all, the Harlem Renaissance was a time period where African Americans began to embrace their roots and create art/works to reflect their experience living in US society. However, during the Great Depression many Americans were left unemployed. In addition to drastic unemployment rates, the environmental disaster, also known as the Dust Bowl, contributed to many

Within any group of people there is always going to be some form of judgment and African American people of the early twentieth century Harlem are no different. Throughout this course students have been immersed into the culture of 1920s Harlem and through this immersion many significant issues have surfaced from the artist of the time period. A major issue that has been repetitive throughout all forms of art during this period is colorism. Colorism which can also be called color conscientiousness, intra-racism, being color-struck, or having a color complex is a long standing epidemic focusing on physical appearance with a large concentration on