Aaron Douglas's Aspects Of Negro Life

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Aaron Douglas was a well-known painter and illustrator who created art throughout the Harlem Renaissance. He was iconically remembered as the “Father of black American art” because he came into New York from two mainly white populated schools with an individual style and personality expressing his culture and ethnicity. He was heavily influenced by being surrounded by his mother’s watercolors in his childhood home and by the art deco style emerging in New York while he lived there. Aaron Douglas’ work is a completely unique and beautiful combination of the two. He incorporated every aspect of African imagery, culture, ideas, and history into his paintings which led him to be known as one of the best visual artists of the jazz age. …show more content…

In the same year, he painted a mural at Club Ebony in Harlem, NY. In 1930 he created a mural of Harriet Tubman at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC and Dance Magic at Sherman Hotel in Chicago. He arguably created all of his best work in the 1930’s. One of his highest moments was in 1933 when he hosted his first solo art show in Harlem. This gave Douglas the motivation and attention that would lead to the best decade of his art career. In 1934, he painted his most important work called Aspects of Negro Life. This painting was created in four panels titled Song of the Towers, From Slavery Through Reconstruction, An Idyll of the Deep South, and The Negro in an African Setting. This painting expressed many important pieces of African heritage and resonated with many artists and citizens living in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. In 1935 he created Let My People Go, another deep and truthful painting about African stereotypes and heritages.
In the late 1930s, Douglas went to Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and founded their art department. He also continued his education while at Fisk and receive his masters degree in art instruction.
Aaron Douglas died on February 2, 1979 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 80 years old and died peacefully. Throughout his whole life, Aaron Douglas continued to paint, learn about art and educate others on African culture through his creative and informative works.

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