Artists associated with the movement said they were proud of black life and identity. A rising consciousness of inequality and discrimination. Residents are focused on the important advancement of society. many of them achieved freedom of expression through art for the first time.
WILLIE BIRCH
Harlem Timeline, 1995
The representation of the black figure in the painting
The Harlem Renaissance painters attempted to take control of the representation of their people. For this they moved away from the caricature and denigration displayed by whites while developing a new repertoire of images. Before World War I, black painters and sculptors had seldom taken an interest in African-American subjects. In the late 1920s, they developed styles that stemmed from African black aesthetic traditions. During the decade of 1920, when African art became better known in European circles, black American visual artists placed more importance on West African cultural models.
Aaron Douglas
Iconic Renaissance artist Aaron Douglas forged his own geometric figurative style to represent Negro themes. He is known as the “father of African American art.” Douglas also transformed in some of his works, white Christian iconography by entrusting the central roles to black subjects and by evoking the identification of black Americans with the sufferings of Christ.
Archibald Motley
Archibald Motley is an emblematic painter from the Harlem Renaissance. He first came to prominence in the 1920s during the early days of the Harlem Renaissance where the African American art became important.
