Aaron Douglass Song Of Towers Analysis

Aaron Douglas was an African American artist popular during the Harlem Renaissance. His “Song of Towers,” has a historical context pertaining to the period after World War I, and during The Harlem Renaissance ending in the late 1920s. The Harlem Renaissance describes the movement of African Americans who fled from south fled upstate for a better future. During this Jazz Era’s height, art and music was a great source of pride for African Americans. “Song of Towers,” is one of Douglas’s motifs of the Harlem Renaissance.

Since I don’t remember learning about The Harlem Renaissance, this was a learning experience for me. My initial interpretation of this oil painting was that Jazz music and technology was on a surge. Jazz music was how

the people entertained themselves, communicated social ills, and made living from the Jazz movement. Musicians and artists brought a new social culture to this time period and depicted how manufacturing jobs were on the rise. “Song of Towers” used symbolism to show the migration of African peoples in New York to the industrial centers of the North just after World War I.” (New York Public Library, 1934)
I was right about the painting being a movement part of history. Upon research, I found out that the creator Aaron Douglas, was a “Renaissance painter, muralist, and illustrator.” (New York Public Library, 1934) He created subjects from African American life and history. Douglas was also encouraged to, “celebrate his ‘race and pride’ by incorporating African motifs and themes into his art.” (Reiss, early 20th century) In my assessment I also stated the image looked like it was in New York City, due to the Statue of Liberty in the background and the tall buildings of the painting, I was correct.

Aaron Douglas taught sculpture to African Americans along with another artist of the Harlem Renaissance named Augustus Savage. Basically the Harlem Renaissance was the birth place of African American musicians, artists, and writers who made a major impact on world culture. When the era slowly faded in the late 1920’s, it brought in a new time period for American culture. From what I understand, Douglas preserved antiquity from his mural paintings dealing with the Harlem Renaissance. Douglas’s influences were from jazz music to abstract and geometrical art.

In my initial interpretation I assumed that this painting was created for the big city of New York because I viewed the Statue of Liberty in the background.

The visual devices used were concentric circles and rectangular buildings I stated the visual art elements were intertwined with the principles of design. The tall rectangular shapes portrayed skyscraper towers in New York City. Industry was portrayed through the smoke and the man with the suitcase stepping up the cog wheel. I saw a man figure in the middle playing a saxophone and assumed he was the subject matter. There was a use of gestural lines to create form of a 3-D effect with the buildings, as well as the smoke floating in the air, the people figures, the shadows, and the wheel of life. There were uses with the secondary hue green, which has value starting with a light green by the statue of liberty in the concentric circles darkening with each circle. The green cool color with a use of a neural color of brown for the buildings was how the picture was portrayed. Great space was used for overlapping objects, like the people and buildings. The buildings had a two-point perspective due to the angles they are pointing at. Symmetrical balance was achieved with the use of colors, line, and shapes (to take up space). There was a sense of movement with the man holding the briefcase, which looked like he was walking up stairs. Unity and Variety were accomplished using the use of color, shape, line, etc. The painting is

full and holds the attention of the viewer. Scale and Proportion were used to create a small figure of the Statue of Liberty in the background, it is tiny compared to the enormous buildings which appear to be closer in the image.
In all this was an alluring oil on canvas painting. It was part of a mural set that depicts the Harlem Renaissance years. I had a learning experience from this due to the fact that it shows a big part of history dealing with music, art, and writing, which shaped our artistic world.