Compare And Contrast African American Art And Folk Art

Traveling back to the 1920’s African American Art was at its’s height. At the time there were two typical styles of art that were widely used, Folk Art and High Art. While both styles were different, artist of both sides had disagreements of which art style better represented Racial Pride.

Folk art is described as more an African American style of doing art. Folk art was originally created to celebrate African American culture and the lives of the people. Sometimes the writers that create Folk art will use dialect or slang. Almost completely opposite from High Art, Folk Art utilizes “slang” and writing the way people actually talked instead of worrying about spelling or correct grammar.

High Art on the other hand is described as

a European style or technique of doing art. Unlike Folk Art High art doesn’t use dialects or anymore of slang. High Art especially in poems use more challenging words. For example in Document A, you will come across uncommon words such as “goading” and “juggernauts”. Most people wouldn’t know or understand these words.

There was (and possibly still) a stigma behind Racial Pride in art. While someone African Americans believed that they should produce High Art “to prove” that they can also do art using the same style, others disagreed. Famous artist such as Langston Hughes believed that they should create their own way of doing art instead of mimicking European techniques. They believed that the best way to show Racial Pride was being themselves and not caring about using difficult words or unrealistic conversations. They wanted to show that they can express themselves by creating something of their own.

Even though there was a disagreement between the two, both styles of art can represent Racial Pride. Whether you enjoy High Art or Folk Art both styles create different ways of expressing yourself.