ARTISTIC CONTEXT IN HARLEM

-Right before 1919-1930,
WWI had ended
-The Harlem Renaissance had started with all kinds of art in Harlem, New York

- Music
-Literature
-Dance
- Theatre
-Art Education
-Female Artists
-Paintings
-Important Art Figures.

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MUSIC
They were big on jazz, some artists were Billie Holiday, William Henry Webb know as Chick Webb, and one of the most famous musicians of the Harlem Renaissance was Louis Armstrong
This type of music incorporates syncopation, improvisation, and blues notes.

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Dance

Due to the first world war and the economic blockades it brought about, Jazz music only started to become known in Germany around the year 1919. The end of the war meant the end of the imposed restrictions, which lead to a “dance rage” . The people’s desire for enjoyment encouraged Jazz music. Jazz music was the first music to ever have a dance choreographed. A couple dancers might have lived in different places but all had the samepassion. May

Art education
finger painting became very popular in schools.
- Frida kahlo became a very popular woman figure.
- In 1934, the Federal Art Project (FAP) was incorporated into the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the New Deal plan. The goal of the FAP was to provide work for some of the many unemployed artists of the time. Those chosen artists were responsible for the decoration of public buildings and parks.

Theatre
The Apollo Theater, grew more and more famous during the Harlem Renaissance originally began as a burlesque club in 1914 and was closed in 1933 when the mayor Fiorello La Guardia, began his campaign against burlesque. In 1934 one of the original owners, Sidney Cohen and his partner Morris Sussman reopened the club renaming it 125th St. Apollo Theatre, focusing on the blossoming African American community in Harlem.

Literature
- The "New Negro" was an anthology of fiction, poetry and essays on African and African-American art and literature.
- The "New Negro" was a centeral example of the revolutionary creativity coming from the new unique writers at the time.

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Female Artists

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IMPORTANT ART FIGURES
One of the more known artists was named Aaron Douglas. His work best exemplified the New Negro philosophy. Also, he founded the Art Department at Fisk University and tought for twenty nine years
Marcus Garvey: he was known for being a leading intellectual. He spoke about the New Negro Movement and showed extensive pride for his race. His teachings included things like "African Americans would only be respected if they were strong, economically, and so as a result, he created chains of restaurants, hotels, laundries, a printing press, and much more for the black people in the United States."

Paintings
Aaron Douglas was an important African-American painter and graphic artist who played a leading role in the Harlem Renaissance; His first big/important commission was to illustrate a book cover (requested by LeRoy Locke); The book was called "The New Negro"
-through visual art, they were trying to give blacks more representation in media; it was a great way of expression and to connect with other people in their culture through art
-other well known visual artist during the time were Lois Mailou Jones (studied at the School of Museum of Fine Art in Boston, during a time of extreme discrimination against African-Americans); Jacob Lawrence (first mainstream artist); Archibald Motley ( studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago)

QUESTIONS

• Who were four important art figures in the Harlem Renaissance?
• How did this era impact today?
• Who was commissioned to illustrate the negro?

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