Archives

This is a transitional time where Social Realism was generally falling out of favor while abstract art received a renewed interest which created a mix of figurative and abstract art. The WPA-FAP had lost popular support between 1940-1943 as the New Deal and those associated with the programs were attacked for socialist ideas which were now viewed as Communism. Artists of color were marginalized for being part of the WPA and Social Realism. Many artists relocated to Europe, or Mexico because of its socialist art scene. 

 

1.  Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012) Catlett was the first Black woman to receive an MFA from the University of Iowa where she studied under Grant Wood. She also studied sculpture at the Chicago Art Institute and lithography at South Side Community Arts Center in Chicago. ON a trip to Mexico she was immersed in the public art movement. In the 1950s, Catlett was a target of the US government due to her ties with WPA and the Mexican Taller de Grafica (TGP) (People’s print workshop). THe TGP was designated a communist organization and members were barred from entering the US for 10 years. Catlett remained in Mexico and taught for 15 years at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico City. https://dailyiowan.com/2021/02/16/elizabeth-catlett-a-life-and-legacy-of-art-activism-and-academic-achievement/

 

Stepping Out

http://www.crsculpture.com/news/elizabeth-catlett-residence-hall-university-of-iowa

 

1.  Romare Bearden (1911-1988) Attended NYU in the early 1930s and exhibited at Harlem YMCA, Harlem Art Workshop, and the 306. Active member of  Harlem Artists Guild. Bearden served in the army, stationed in Harlem during WWII. He used the GI Bill to travel to Italy and France where he was exposed to abstract art.He began working in the cubist style in the mid 1940s-1950s.1960s he developed his signature style of abstract collage and photomontage portraying African American life urban, spiritual, domestic, and familial. Co- founder of the Spiral Group of Black artists. They limited their color pallet to black and white to symbolize racial conflict. The group’s first show was in 1965. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/romare-bearden-296

 

Factory Workers, 1942  https://collections.artsmia.org/art/4428/factory-workers-romare-howard-bearden

 

1.  Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000)  Lawrence bridged the gap between abstraction and social realism. Moving to Harlem as a teen, he took classes at the Harlem Community Art Center. Lawrence was part of the WPA-FAP when he created the Migration of the Negro Series. The series brought him national attention, several exhibitions, commissions, and a series of teaching positions beginning in the 1940s. Lawrence received the US National Medal of Arts in 1990. https://lawrencemigration.phillipscollection.org/artist/about-jacob-lawrence

 

The Migration series Panel #1: During World War I there was a great migration north by southern African Americans, 1940 https://lawrencemigration.phillipscollection.org/

 

1. John Biggers (1934-2000) Biggers studied at Hampton University in 1941. In 1949, he was hired by Texas Southern University to head their new art department. The Houston and Dallas Museums of Fine Arts exhibited and purchased his works although he could not attend the exhibitions due to segregation laws. Biggers traveled to Africa in 1957 to learn about his cultural roots. His style developed into an influence of African, European, and American art. https://aaregistry.org/story/john-biggers-brought-african-influence-to-art/

 

Jubilee: Ghana Harvest Festival, 1959 https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/8974/jubilee-ghana-harvest-festival

 

1. Gordon Parks (1912-2006) Parks is an award winning photographer and filmmaker. His early career found support through the Southside Community Art Center in Chicago. Parks worked for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) before contributing work to Ebony and Vogue magazine. In 1949, Parks was hired as the first Black staff photographer.  https://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/gordon-parks/biography

 

 American Gothic, 1942 – created during his position with the FSA the image of Ella Watson, a government employed cleaning woman creates a statement on racial segregation and inequality.  https://collections.artsmia.org/art/100557/american-gothic-gordon-parks. This image is a direct commentary on Grant Wood’s, American Gothic, 1930. https://www.artic.edu/artworks/6565/american-gothic  

 

1.   Roy DeCarava (1919-2009) DeCarava studied at Cooper Union and the Harlem Community Art Center. He worked for WPA-FAP as a painter and studied printmaking with Charles White and Elizabeth Catlett. By 1950, DeCarava wanted to portray his own neighborhood of Harlem “as subjects worthy of art.” In 1963-66 he was the founding director of Kamoinge Workshop for young black photographers.  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roy-DeCarava

 

Graduation, New York, 1949, photograph  – image in the book Sweet Flypaper of Life  https://www.moma.org/collection/works/91322

 

The Harlem Renaissance/The New Negro Arts Movement was the first art movement in Black American history. Beginning in the early 1920s, the Great Migration brought Southern Blacks to Harlem, NYC. Within the population was a small percentage of the African American cultural elite including scholars, philosophers, artists, and social reformers, including Alain Locke and W.E.B. DuBois who helped form the basis of the movement. DuBois wrote of creating uniquely African American works. Locke believed that the arts were a potent means to reconfigure the identity and image of African Americans. 

 

Artists explored themes of Africa and the Black experience in America. For the most part, Black artists received recognition through black-only exhibitions and consumers of Black art were largely white. The bulk of these exhibitions were funded through the William E. Harmon Foundation, a white philanthropic organization.  https://www.nga.gov/learn/teachers/lessons-activities/uncovering-america/harlem-renaissance.html

https://www.wchsmuseum.org/blog/harmonfoundation

 

1. Richmond Barthe (1901-1989)– Barthe graduated from the Art Institute in Chicago in 1929 and moved to Harlem. Sculptures are mainly male nudes and busts of Black men and women. Barthe was also a co-founder of the Sculptor’s Guild https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richmond-Barthe

 

Feral Benga, 1935  https://collections.mfa.org/objects/495466

 

1. Archibald J. Motley Jr (1891-1981) Motley trained at the Art Institute of Chicago and studied with artist George Bellows of the Ashcan School of painters who used vibrant colors, angles, and overlapping shapes. Motley was a member of the Bronzeville movement in Chicago which paralleled the Harlem Renaissance. During the Depression, Motley was hired by the Works Progress Association(WPA) from 1933-36 to paint murals on African American history for schools.

 https://www.artic.edu/artists/42445/archibald-john-motley-jr

 

Black Belt, 1934 Motley’s favorite subjects were Prohibition activities such as illegal 

gambling and drinking. https://black-artists-in-the-museum.com/2018/02/16/black-belt-1934/

• Aaron Douglas (1899-1979) Douglas was one of the leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance, identifying with Locke and DuBois beliefs in the visual arts. Douglas came to Harlem, NYC in 1925. He also studied African and modern art in Philadelphia and Paris developing a style that combined African and European design aesthetics. https://www.theartstory.org/artist/douglas-aaron/  

 

Aspects of Negro Llife: An Idyll of the Deep South, 1934 – One of four murals depicting moments in African American history. This was a WPA project, installed at Schomburg Center in Harlem, NYC. This mural represents the time just after Reconstruction, during Jim Crow.   https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/634c04bc-fed3-b0e8-e040-e00a18063c1a

 

1. James VanDerZee (1886-1983) VanDeZee is viewed as the most significant photographer of the Harlem Renaissance. From 1916 to 1945 he recorded Black life in Harlem. An official photographer of the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Assoc), he documented Marcus Garvey. He was hired as a portrait photographer with Newark photographer Charles Gertz before starting his own business, Guarantee Photos Studio. By 1928, VanDerZee was the premier photographer in Harlem. He portrayed subjects as members of the wealthy elite. 

 

Future Expectations, (Wedding Day), photograph, 1926

https://www.sfmoma.org/artwork/83.438/

Neoclassicism was an art movement in tandem with the Federal period also looking to Greek and Roman motifs. During this time period, Black artists found establishing themselves in the visual arts world was difficult because of race. Most financial success was gained in producing work based on popular European styles. Many 19th century Black artists moved to Europe to study in art academies as well as escape racial prejudice.

Examples from the Period:

Mary Edmonia Lewis (1844-c.1911) was a sculptor active during the 1860s-1870s. Lewis was the first Black sculptor to achieve international success. She moved to Italy in 1865 on the advice of sculptor Harriet Hosmer and settled in Rome where there was a thriving expatriate community of artists and writers. While her style was Neoclassical, the subject matter was based in the struggles against the institution of slavery, female oppression, and Indigenous American cultures. By 1870, Lewis was internationally known earning her commissions, exhibitions, and sales. Learn more about Lewis here.