This painting by Archibald John Motley Jr. depicts the jazz-filled party atmosphere of the Harlem Renaissance.
(http://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/videos/the-harlem-renaissance)
(http://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/videos/the-harlem-renaissance)
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance occurred after the climax of the rebirth of the KKK. The Harlem Renaissance was name of the the cultural explosion after World War 1. African Americans artists and musicians migrated north and found new ways to explore their creativity. Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Arna Bontemps, Zora Neale Hurston, Jean Toomer, Walter White, and James Weldon Johnson were famous cultural figures in the Harlem Renaissance. W. E. B. Du Bois was an African-American civil rights activist who encouraged African-American expression. According to PBS, W. E. B. Du Bois’s magazine, the CRISIS, published African-American art during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was similar to the civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.. The Harlem Renaissance’s greatest effect was that it inspired racial pride in African-Americans.
This was a white-oriented trade club, which followed the social trend at that time with a theme of white supremacy due to the KKK forming as well as Jim Crow laws being put into place. This was on 133rd street and became a night club for everyone (Watson).
This is an image of a dancing couple, which is supposed to be a representation of rented parties, which took a lot more money (inflation) ranging between $12-$30 a month. There were also admission fees that were cheap, but made a lot of money considering how many people came to these rented parties (Watson).
This was a magazine that was created for the reason of Du Boys speaking out that all people no matter their race or skin color have rights in America. The CRISIS had 1,000 copies printed its first year then 100,000 in 1918.
These Harlem Renaissance paintings are from the artists: Archibald J. Motley Jr., Aaron Douglas, Palmer Hayden, and Lois Mailou Jones.
Sources:
(http://www.loismailoujones.com/index.php?page=early-career-1923-1940)
(http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=10126)
(https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aaron-Douglas)
(http://nasher.duke.edu/motley/#!/tongues)
Sources:
(http://www.loismailoujones.com/index.php?page=early-career-1923-1940)
(http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=10126)
(https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aaron-Douglas)
(http://nasher.duke.edu/motley/#!/tongues)