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David Hammons, The Door (Admissions Office), 1969

California African American Museum, Los Angeles, California

David Hammons is an African American Artist born in 1943 who was part of the Black Power Movement. He creates art that pokes fun at racial issues while sending a strong message about those issues at the same time (Schjeldahl).

  • Hammons’s The Door is said to be, “a metaphor of southern society blocking African- Americans from progressing and being able to garner even their most basic rights. No matter how much one could bang against, lean against or even try to break down that admissions door; it often refused to budge,” (Giordano).
  • This piece is an actual door. Hammons coated parts of his body with black pigment and pressed against the window of the door (Markus).
  • Today, we can think about how so many black people were robbed of the opportunity to receive a better education; just one look at Hammons piece reminds of us what was and what we need to continue to fight against… any and all types of discrimination.

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Archibald Motley - Blues

Archibald Motley was a African American who was born in 1891 and died on 1981. He was one of the many African American Artist who were in the Harlem Renaissance.

Archibald earned a fellowship from the Guggenheim, he was able to travel anywhere in Europe. When he was in Paris, he enjoyed and loved the Paris nightlife. So he made a painting called Blues.

People really like that the painting looks colorful and you can sense the “Blue”

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Credits

http://whitney.org/image_columns/0071/0629/blues_resized_800.jpg

Scott Morris, M. "Through artists' eyes Exhibit focuses on African-American perspectives." Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, MS) 08 Apr. 2012: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

"Archibald Motley." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

"Archibald Motley." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Otfinoski, Steven. "Motley, Archibald." African Americans in the Visual Arts, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2014. African-American History Online. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

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Works Cited

  • Markus, David. "Witness: Art And Civil Rights In The Sixties." Art In America 102.6 (2014): 153-154. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • Giordano, Rebecca. "Struggles of Desegregation in David Hammons' "The Door (Admissions Office)"" Witness Voices. Blanton Museum of Art, 10 May 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • Swenson, Kirsten. "David Hammons: L&M Arts." Art In America 99.5 (2011): 157. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  • SCHJELDAHL, PETER. "Laughter And Anger." New Yorker 92.6 (2016): 86-88. Literary Reference Center. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Miss Maher

Photo credit:

http://crudevessels.tumblr.com/post/81207515700/david-hammons-the-door-admissions-office-1969

Photo credit: http://therealdeal.com/2011/03/22/washington-heights-townhouse-comes-with-unexpected-surprise-conceptual-art-by-david-hammons-on-the-hot-sheet-at-444-west-162nd-street/

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Annie Ma

Evening Rendezvous (1962)

Norman Lewis

Smithsonian American Art Museum,

Washington D.C.

Norman Lewis in his Studio in New York

About the Artist:

  • Norman Lewis was born in 1909, in Harlem, New York City, New York.
  • Leader of the Abstract Expressionism Movement
  • Went to Columbia University
  • Taught at the Harlem Art Center (1936-1939)
  • Lewis thought that art could not solve society's problems
  • Drew his subjects abstractly but with acceptable language

(Britannica; Smithsonian American Art Museum)

My Thoughts:

Today, we have resolved the issue of most races being oppressed - but I can see that issue rising again - Trump thinking that Muslims and Mexicans are Terrorists - there could be another Ku Klux Klan

We need to follow the American Dream -

To provide equality for all people

To give everyone an equal opportunity

About the Art:

  • A deeply political painting
  • White - hooded Klansmen - gathered around a bonfire (suggested by the hot reds) at the center of the image
  • Others are depicted by blue smoke
  • Mocks the patriotism that the Klan claimed in its defense
  • Forbidden style

(Smithsonian American Art Museum)

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Annie Ma

Annotated Bibliography

  • "Search Collections." Evening Rendezvous by Norman Lewis / American Art. Smithsonian Art Museum, 2006. Web. 20 Apr. 2016. <http://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=33910>
    • The museum label gave me a lot of information on the Art itself
  • "Lewis, Norman." Britannica School. Britannica, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. <http://school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/312170>.
    • This gave me information on the artist himself - Norman Lewis

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Norman Rockwell, The Problem We All Live With, 1964

Born in New York City in 1894, Norman Rockwell always wanted to be an artist. At age 14, Rockwell enrolled in art classes at the New York School of Art. Two years later, in 1910, he left high school to study art at the National Academy of Design…. From Bridgeman, Rockwell, learned the technical skills on which he relied throughout his long career.

(Norman Rockwell Museum)

Said by Eric, “The girl appears confident and proud, even as she is overshadowed by U.S. marshals in muted gray suits….... And viewers are left to determine just what the "problem" is that "we all live with.” (Eric)

“She does not seem to notice the tomato splashed on the wall behind her nor the “N” word written in graffiti on the wall.” (Eric)

We can see today that many African Americans are being treated very poorly. Some people don’t even give them service. Don’t treat them as nicely as other people. But as the day’s go on, we are still improving. We, as a nation, still are fighting really hard to not be racist or have any discriminatory people against African Americans. Or even anyone.

By: Jaylynn Robinson

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Fancy Bibliography

  1. Middleton, Tiffany. "Norman Rockwell's "The Problem We All Live With:" Teaching "Bush V. Orleans Parish School Board." Social Education 75.6- (2011): 329-333. ERIC. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  2. http://www.nrm.org/about-2/about-norman-rockwell/

http://famouskin.com/images/historical/norman-rockwell.png

← Photo Credit

http://www.nrm.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Problem_web.jpg

← Photo Credit

You can find this in Ebsco and also the Norman Rockwell Online Museum.

You can find this in Ebsco and also the Norman Rockwell Online Museum.

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Archibald Motley - Blues

Archibald Motley was a African American who was born in 1891 and died on 1981. He was one of the many African American Artist who were in the Harlem Renaissance.

Archibald earned a fellowship from the Guggenheim, he was able to travel anywhere in Europe. When he was in Paris, he enjoyed and loved the Paris nightlife. So he made a painting called Blues.

People really like that the painting looks colorful and you can sense the “Blue”

I really like this piece of artwork because there is so much color and contrast, with the red then the blue, looks very nice.

You can find it at Whitney Museum of American Art

Aditya Rajesh

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Credits

http://whitney.org/image_columns/0071/0629/blues_resized_800.jpg

Scott Morris, M. "Through artists' eyes Exhibit focuses on African-American perspectives." Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, MS) 08 Apr. 2012: Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

"Archibald Motley." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Otfinoski, Steven. "Motley, Archibald." African Americans in the Visual Arts, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2014. African-American History Online. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Aditya Rajesh

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“Blues gives form, colour, and meaning to the Harlem Renaissance idea of a part aural, part performative act of black enchantment….is bold in its racial and cultural locus for modernism, and assertive in its aesthetic privileging of black performers." (Gilroy)

Archibald J. Motley, Blues, 1929,

Chicago History Museum,

Archibald J. Motley never worked or lived in Harlem but his work inspired many Harlem Renaissance artwork. Was one of the first famous artist to concentrate on African American life. (Gilroy).

Blues features African-Americans with different skin tones because he was a mixed race child. The warm reds and warmer colors show a slower more casual setting while he used deep purples and reds (cool and rich jewel tones) to show fanciness and high class (Britannica).

This piece of artwork really shows that even though Blacks were being oppressed, they were starting to live life with no fear. Through times of inequality and hardship, African-Americans realized that the journey the equality is not easy, so why not enjoy life. A quote that really fits this piece is...

“don’t forget to sing in the lifeboat,” because the Blacks did not stop living their life.

Shaina Shah

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Photo Credits:

http://www.newyork.com/articles/attractions/on-view-archibald-motley-jazz-age-modernist-at-the-whitney-museum-43331/

Archibald J. Motley Jr. Blues, 1929 | Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist."Archibald Motley Jazz Age Modernist. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Gilroy, Paul. "Archibald J. Motley Jr - Blues." Archibald J. Motley Jr - Blues. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Hartel Jr., Herbert R. "Archibald Motley." Art In America 104.2 (2016): 94-95. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Archibald Motley." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Bibliography

Shaina Shah

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Iiiiiii Aaron Douglas, Song of the Towers, 1934 i iIIIi

Aaron Douglas was one of the leading figures during the Harlem Renaissance who used modern art to depict the daily lives of African Americans. He was born on the 26th of May, 1899. He wanted to use his art to portray the struggle of black people for political and creative freedom. (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia.)

Marilyn Zhang

  • Part of the four-piece installation, “Aspects of Negro Life”(Johnson)
  • Measuring about eight feet square, it shows a man raising his arms, a saxophone in one hand, as though to praise the Statue of Liberty... This image of hopeful aspiration has a dark side, though: the aspiring musician is standing on a big gear wheel symbolizing the machinery of a city and a society that could grind him up; another figure has fallen into shadowy despair in the lower-left side of the painting.”(Johnson)
  • It is painted in his signature style of mixing various colors with greys, rays of light around the character.(Johnson)

This painting was made, I believe, because it perfectly captures the struggle of black people to become famous and being recognised during the Harlem Renaissance. It depicts a very american dream... the possibility of rising to the top, but at the same time it depicts what happens when you fall, when you fail.

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During a time where African American culture was booming, Aaron Douglas painted this painting to make “Negroes” feel proud of their culture.

  • “Douglas created powerful images of African-American life and struggles.”. (Bio.com)
  • Douglas used watercolor for this painting, combining bold silhouettes and modern design to create a piece that reflected African American culture (Bio.com).
  • This painting, along with 3 others, show African American culture from their time in Africa all the way to after the Civil War (AIC)

The Negro In An African Setting

During a boom of black culture, this painting was used to show people what African American culture was and to shows blacks what their culture was about and why they should love it. This painting tried to bring peace between two clashing cultures, and it should be inspiration for all of us to come to peace with not only our culture, but others too.

The Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois.

By: Aaron Douglas, 1934

Pranav Kumar

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Bibliography

Picture Credit - http://exhibitions.nypl.org/treasures/archive/files/douglas-negro-in-an-african-setting_07ee8170de.jpg

AIC (The Art Institute of Chicago) - "The Art Institute of Chicago." Study for Aspects of Negro Life: The Negro in an African Setting. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Bio.com - "Aaron Douglas." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016

Pranav Kumar

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Into Bondage by Aaron Douglas, 1963

By Aditya B.

Painting held in Corcoran Gallery of Art’s permanent collection in Washington D.C.

  • “Into Bondness presents the enslavement of African men and women awaiting the arrival of a slave ship and a universal message of hope and promise that might be attained through the rigors of education.” (Knappe)

  • We can see hope and desperation in Into Bondage, which is

What many African Americans or any group being discriminated

felt at the time.

  • Here the small shackled figures at the left of the composition (perhaps women) are overtaken by the large muscular men who also are shackled and move hesitantly toward the slanted slave ships on the horizon.

  • This, I feel, can show the process of the way people were treated, just not on an island, of course. The island could possibly represent prison, as they are isolated from society, the big men could be the policemen, and the people wo are in chains could represent the hundreds of African Americans who were arrested.

Aaron Douglas was one of the most famous artists during the Harlem Renaissance. He created art that most people believe

To have shown black history and treatment. Its purpose was to send a strong message to the people who were discriminating against them.

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Works Cited Page

  • Elizabeth, Susan. "Aaron Douglas : African American Modernist /."Summary/Reviews: Aaron Douglas :. Yale University Press, 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  • Biography.com Editors. "Aaron Douglas." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  • Abel. "Aaron Douglas African American Modernist." (n.d.): 1-21. Smithsonian American Art Museum Wall Text & Extended Labels. Smithsonian. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  • file:///home/chronos/u-17e980b3cb1713c9e6af5c73388c0ef9f60336d6/Downloads/3947-5225-1-PB.pdf
  • Image credits:

http://www.baas.ac.uk/usso/from-harlem-to-texas-african-american-art-and-the-murals-of-aaron-douglas/

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Iiiiiii Aaron Douglas, Song of the Towers, 1934 i iIIIi

Aaron Douglas was one of the leading figures during the Harlem Renaissance who used modern art to depict the daily lives of African Americans. He was born on the 26th of May, 1899. He wanted to use his art to portray the struggle of black people for political and creative freedom. (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia.)

Marilyn Zhang

  • Part of the four-piece installation, “Aspects of Negro Life”(Johnson)
  • ...it shows a man raising his arms, a saxophone in one hand, as though to praise the Statue of Liberty... This image of hopeful aspiration has a dark side, though: the aspiring musician is standing on a big gear wheel symbolizing the machinery of a city and a society that could grind him up; another figure has fallen into shadowy despair in the lower-left.”(Johnson)
  • It is painted in his signature style of mixing various colors with greys, rays of light around the character.(Johnson)

This painting was made, I believe, because it perfectly captures the struggle of black people to become famous and being recognised during the Harlem Renaissance. It depicts a very american dream... the possibility of rising to the top, but at the same time it depicts what happens when you fall, when you fail. Even though this was painted many years ago, its lesson can still be applied today because of its relevance to celebrities and even people who want to become famous...You have to work hard and overcome many, many obstacles, before you can finally reach your goal.

New York Public Library

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Bibliography

  • "Douglas, Aaron." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2016): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • Johnson, Ken. “Black in America, Painted Euphoric and Heroic.” The New York Times, The New York Times. 11 Sept 2008. Web. April 21, 2016
  • "Treasures of The New York Public Library." Treasures of The New York Public Library. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Marilyn Zhang

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Maria Varela, Washington County, Mississippi, 1966

After briefly working in SNCC’s Atlanta headquarters, Varela was assigned to Selma, Alabama to help educate and register black voters in the “belly of the beast” of the battle for civil rights. Throughout Varela’s life, she recognized the connections between struggles for civil rights everywhere. After leaving SNCC, one of her most profound photographic experiences was shooting the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, DC, which brought together Black Americans, low-income Whites, Chicanos, Native Americans, and Puerto Ricans—among others—under a shared desire for justice. - By Mirissa Neff

The Washington county- The U.S. military evicted more than one hundred plantation workers from the Greenville air force base. "People are hungry in the Delta," a protester told the Justice Department representative. - maria varela

Now we have developed because we have given more opportunity than taking in the past years that we have not see the full potenial in all people no matter the skin color, race or religion. Maria Valera was born 1940 and is not dead yet. She is 86 years old. And her art is stored at Scheller and Rodale Galleries

Joseph lilleywhite

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Human image of artist- - the person is maria Varela

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on#safe=active&q=Maria+Varela

Picture of image and where I got some information of the picture- - maria varela

http://www.allentownartmuseum.org/exhibition/light-ours-activist-photographers-civil-rights-movement

Joseph Lillywhite's sources

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Why not? Celebration (1855) by Charles Searles Parth Kale

Charles Searles (1837-1870) was born in Philadelphia, in 1837. He moved to New York later on. He was inspired by many artist during the renaissance time period. His inspiration was the evolution from before to after they move to Harlem. His philosophy stated that his paintings showed happiness not despair.

This painting was inspired by a street festival in his native Philadelphia.Dancers and drummers performed on a portable stage while children played,” he said, recalling the festival. We can connect this to our daily lives because just like the black culture we also parties and gatherings to release our stress and celebrate

This painting shows happiness and we should all be like this which is being united and not having any problems with each other. This peice of artwork shows a drum circle of africans showing there joy and happiness.

Smithsonian Archives, Washington D.C, Maryland

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Sources

Parth Kale

"IIP Digital | U.S. Department of State." African-American Art Chronicles Struggles, Triumphs. N.p., 16 May 2012. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Tyler School of Art, Temple University — Charles Searles: In Motion, on view through June 16

LaSalle University Art Museum – Charles Searles: The Mask of Abstraction, on view through May 31

Woodmere Art Museum — Charles Searles: A Focus on the Figure, on view through June 15

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“Nightlife” by: Archibald J. Motley Jr.

  • “Archibald J. Motley Jr was one of the first of several artists to concentrate on African American life in his paintings. Even though he never worked or lived in Harlem, his work provided a foundations for much of the work that became identified with the Harlem Renaissance.” (Gilroy)

  • The painting is depicting the nightlife in the Black Belt which had a 90% of all the African Americans in Chicago at the time. (Chicago)
  • Their dancing represents jazz which was very popular at the time (Chicago)
  • This painting to me really shows how african communities were and how they were nice places and people were very happy there and in today's world this shows that all of one ethnic communities aren’t bad places

By: William Santa Maria

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Sources (William Santa Maria

  • "Nightlife." Art Institute of Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago, 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. <http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/ AfricanAmerican/Nightlife>.
  • "Nightlife." Art Everywhere. Art Everywhere, 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. <http://arteverywhereus.org/Art-Gallery/id/14>.
  • "Archibald J. Motley Jr." Rhapsodies in Black. INIVA, 1997. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. <http://www.iniva.org/harlem/motley.html>.

http://nasher.duke.edu/motley/project/black-belt/

Collection of the Hampton University Museum

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Kansas-born, Douglas was a leading member of the Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement. This period of intense creativity in the visual arts, literature, music, and dance inspired African Americans to be proud of the heritage of their race((The Art Institute of Chicago)

  • Aaron Douglas himself had said, “Our problem is to conceive, develop, establish an art era. Not white art painted black. . . . Let's bare our arms and plunge them deep through laughter, through pain, through sorrow, through hope, through disappointment, into the very depths of the souls of our people . . ."(Aaron Douglas)

  • In this painting, there are rectangular prisms all around that are the “towers” in the painting. Circular shapes outline the painting and almost look as though it is a target. Right in the middle of the target is a saxophone player with his arms up. Musicians were looked at to lift the spirit of the people.
  • Black people have been through so much from the time of freedom to life in the United States. These series of paintings remind us of what they went through and how they fought and gained their freedom. These paintings remind us to never give up hope

Last Located in Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,

Art and Artifacts Division, The New York Public Library,

Aaron Douglas, Aspects of Negro Life: Song of the Towers, 1934

By Jill Mehta

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Works Cited

  • "The Art Institute of Chicago." Study for Aspects of Negro Life: The Negro in an African Setting. The Art Institute of Chicago, 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  • "New Art." National Humanities Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  • "Aaron Douglas." Virtual Exhibition. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Photo Credit: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA03/staples/douglas/song.html

Photo Credit: http://scalar.usc.edu/works/harlem-renaissance/harlem-renaissance-artist-aaron-douglas-1899-1979

Jill Mehta

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Aaron Douglas, From Slavery Through Reconstruction, 1934 By: Peter Zhang

  • The painting was trying to tell the people who viewed it, that the time for African Americans, and everyone, will come, and that one day, everyone in this country would be treated equal.

Aaron Douglas, an African American artist, was born in Topeka, Kansas on May 26, 1899. Douglas was a University of Nebraska graduate with a degree in fine arts and a degree from the Teachers College of Columbia University. Douglas was one of the leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance period, and inspired many future artists. (Otfinoski)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York City, New York

  • This mural is a part of a collection called Aspects of Negro Life, and this painting especially, traces a part in the migration of African Americans from the south to the north. (Earle)
  • This painting is important to what happened back then because before the Harlem Renaissance and the 13th amendment, people in the south owned slaves. They were freed eventually, and they moved but not everyone didn’t treat them equally still. But, from what the artist is trying to tell us, during the Harlem Renaissance, it was the time when African Americans were getting themselves from the south to north (some stayed), and then made their legacy better. This painting relates to how the African Americans were getting more equal compared to everyone else
  • It is important to note that without African Americans getting equal treatment and rights, we might not have developed culture in our society as much. During the Harlem Renaissance African Americans had created the basis for many types of music we have today. Without them, we might not have pop music, and many other things.

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Works Cited

  • "Aaron Douglas." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • Otfinoski, Steven. "Douglas, Aaron." African Americans in the Visual Arts, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2014. African-American History Online. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • West, Sandra L. "Douglas, Aaron." Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. Facts On File, 2003. African-American History Online. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • Earle, Susan. "Aaron Douglas: Teacher Resource." Aaron Douglas: Teacher Resource. Yale University Press, 2007. Web. 2007.

Photo Credit:

http://exhibitions.nypl.org/treasures/items/show/170

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Douglas

Peter Zhang

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Norman Rockwell, The Problem We All Live With, 1964 (Krishna)

  • Norman Rockwell was a painter that was born in 1894 (Susan)
  • His paintings often depicted a situation in the real light and not what they seemed to be
  • This painting was a painting of Ruby Bridges walking to school. She needs to be protected by the government because she is getting so many death threats.
  • The word “nigger” is inscribed on the wall to show the racial hatred between the two races

This painting is currently in the Norman Rockwell Museum Of Art

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Works Cited (Krishna)

  • "Norman Rockwell." Britannica School. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • "Norman Rockwell." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • Lifson, Amy. "Norman Rockwell Museum: An Artist's Mirror On America." Humanities 30.1 (2009): 47. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  • http://www.nrm.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Problem_web.jpg

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Jacob Lawrence, The Migration of the Negro, 1940

  • This painting shows migrants who are about to leave on a long journey to three different cities (Whitney Museum of Art). It shows scenes of hard work, and finally being able to live a free life (MasterFile).
  • Jacob Lawrence created this painting in 1940. He put no facial features on the people, and he used silhouettes to show the action of people moving in the crowd to be a part of the action. The artwork is a water-based tempera. (Whitney Museum of American Art).
  • Jacob Lawrence was a painter born in 1917. He mostly painted scenes of his life, and he was later awarded the Spingarn Medal for his work.. He was also a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle (Encyclopedia Britannica). A famous quote of his is “I hope that when my life ends, I would have added a little beauty, perception, and quality for those who follow.” This fits the painting because it is a painting that very much tells the story of the Civil Rights Movement Era.
  • This painting has a very strong meaning to it. African Americans are trying to go to three new cities and experience life to the fullest during the Civil Rights Movement Era, It shows how the people of this time are trying to live and achieve the American Dream.

Whitney Museum of American Art (Manhattan, NY)

Jacob Lawrence painting one of his art pieces

Mehak Bhardwaj

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Works Cited

Whitney Museum of American Art. "Migration." NetTrekker. Whitney Museum of American Art, 2002. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Burr, Constance. "Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Of The Negro." Humanities 15.3 (1994): 15. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

"Jacob Lawrence." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Picture Credits:

http://northbysouth.kenyon.edu/1998/art/pages/lawrence.htm

https://whitney.org/www/jacoblawrence/art/migration_series.html

Mehak Bhardwaj

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Palmer Hayden, Midsummer Night in Harlem, 1938

Midsummer Night in Harlem captures “unheroic, ordinary aspects of the black experience.” (Allan M. Gordon, PhD) His pieces are “often flavored by nostalgic, archaic memories of his own.” He attempted to represent the “experiences of black men in the United States.”

Palmer Hayden was born in Widewater, Virginia, in 1890. He was known as a self-taught artist with primitive style. His artwork was known to be both humorous and unflattering at times. His pieces represented scenes from urban life and captured black subjects in their daily routine.

We can look at this piece of art as a nice image of a scene pulled right out of a Sunday evening in Harlem. It shows how pleasant the times were and it would make people who lived in those times feel nostalgic. This is just another everyday experience from an African American environment in New York.

Michaelle Fabius

Smithsonian Museum, New York, New York

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Works Cited Michaelle Fabius

  • Hartigan, Lynda Roscoe. “Palmer Hayden” African-American Art: 19th and 20th-Century Selections. National Museum of American Art, Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  • Gordon, Allan M. “Palmer Hayden | Biography” Echoes Of Our Past: The Narrative Artistry of Palmer C. Hayden. Museum of African American Art, 2003-2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Photo Credit:

Photo Credit:

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Faith Ringgold, Die, 1967

Jennifer Cruz

  • This painting shows the clash of ideals of violence versus of non-violence also segregation versus integration. The blood spilling picturing how hard the black were really trying for equality and rights. In this painting no one went unharmed by the Injustices were occurring at that time period. (Kiara)
  • This painting and the other painting from the “American People” series are described as vibrant and colorful. The drawing impacts from pop art and traditional African artwork.(Stacy)
  • The theme was based on race,gender, class and civil rights.(Stacy)
  • This painting shows that both races were creating destruction and were causing a lot of confusion, anger and hate. This shows how much both races hated each other that they wanted to kill each other.This shows that children sometimes got in this disaster.
  • “I had seen blood in the street. I had seen the effects of some riots and so on. But they were not in the newspapers, they were not pictured. They were not in news photographs — the blood part — and I wanted to bring that out." (Faith Ringgold)

Faith Ringgold is African American artist and author, she was born in Oct. 8, 1930. Ringgold grew up in New York City’s Harlem. During high school she decided to become an artist, In the mid-1950s she started to teach art in New York public schools. Made the “American People Series” which illustrates the Civil Rights Movement from a woman’s view. She made “story quilts” that were inspired by Tibetan tankas, paintings that were framed in cloth. Ringgold also started creating children’s books in 1991. (Britannica Biographies.)

The National Museum of Women in the Arts , Washington, DC

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Works Cited

  1. http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_23559230/vivid-confrontational-art-revived-after-40-years-hiding
  2. "Ringgold, Faith." Britannica Biographies (2012): 1. Middle Search Plus. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  3. http://centuryofblackart.weebly.com/black-art-and-the-reflection-of-american-history/1960s-and-civil-rights

Jennifer Cruz

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Motley from the age of nine knew that he wanted to be an artist. He was born in New Orleans. His ancestors are African American, European, Creole, and Native American. Seeking economic opportunities, his family moved from New Orleans to Chicago in 1893.(Art Institute of Chicago)

This piece of art is a self-portrait, it shows a portrait of him holding a paint pallette. The pallette in his hand represents his profession, an artist.

Archibald Motley, Self-Portrait

Kriti Aitharaju

This artwork shows Archibald, a black artist. It shows that even after a bad time for black people he was still able to do what he loved, even though there were a lot of haters.

“… for years many artists have depicted the Negro as the ignorant southern ‘darky,’ … gulping a large piece of watermelon … or [as] a cotton picker or a chicken thief. This material is obsolete … Progress has changed all of this. In my paintings I have tried to paint the Negro as I have seen him and as I feel him, in myself, without adding or detracting, just being frankly honest.”(Archibald Motley)

This piece of art was created in 1920

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Bibliography

  1. Naves, Mario. “Web.ebscohost.com”. Ebscohost. Foundation for Cultural Review.Jan. 2016. Ebscohost. Jan. 2016
  2. Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist. Terra Foundation for American Art, 14 June 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  3. Castellanos, Rosario. "Self-Portrait." Feminist Studies 3.3/4 (1976): 63-65.Artic. Department of Museum Education, 2003. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

Find this piece of art at The Art Institute of Chicago

Kriti Aitharaju

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Archibald Motley, Jr. Nightlife, 1943

About the Artist Archibald Motley Jr.was born on October 7, 1891 in New Orleans. He sketched while he traveled with his family. In 1920’s Motley started painting portraits He had showed most work in Art Institute of Chicago.

By: Ananya Seshadri

About The Painting

The painting is of Africans Americans at a bar at midnight. This painting focused on lighthearted moment gaiety. The bar was filled music, dancing, and many conversations. This painting shows many African Americans just dancing,drinking, and having fun.

Opinion

Africans were being more accepted, and they were allowed to do more things. This shows that they had broken records, and changed the world. They had built the world for African Americans after them.

More About The Painting

This is one of the most viewed paintings by Archibald Motley Jr. You will able to view his paintings including this one at The Art Institute of Chicago.

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Bibliography

  1. Willard Motley." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  2. "About This Artwork." Nightlife. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
  3. Potter, Polyxeni. "Host-Pathogen-Venue Combinations And All That Jazz." Emerging Infectious Diseases 12.2 (2006): 363-364.Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

By: Ananya Seshadri

http://www.chicagotribute.org/Images/Motley%20portrait.jpg

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Palmer Hayden, Midnight At the Crossroad, 1940

  • When Palmer Hayden painted Midnight At the Crossroad, his dream was becoming a violinist but because of financial reasons he couldn't, so he became an artist. This painting shows Hayden when he was young and was making his decision. (Hanks)

Found in: M. Hanks Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

Palmer Hayden was born on January 15, 1890 in Widewater, Virginia. Palmer Hayden was inspired to draw by his older brother. Palmer Hayden is considered one of the most significant artist during the Harlem Renaissance. (Hanks)

  • "The conflict between his desire to play the fiddle and his love of drawing is portrayed in Midnight at the Crossroads."(Hanks)
  • During the Harlem Renaissance, there were many opportunities for african americans to shine and show their ability in arts. This painting shows the different opportunities african americans had during the Harlem renaissance.

Shreya Joshi

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Bibliography

  • Hanks, Eric. "Journey From The Crossroads: Palmer Hayden's Right Turn." International Review Of African American Art 16.1 (1999): 30. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 20 Apr. 2016.
  • "Palmer C. Hayden." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 20 Apr. 2016.

Shreya Joshi

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  • Palmer Hayden was the one who made this picture.
  • He was born in Widewater, Virginia 1890.
  • He was known in Boothbay, Maine; Paris, France.
  • He died in New York, New York 1973.
  • His original name was Peyton Cole Hedgeman
  • His painting was made for Palmer’s friend who was also a painter his name was Cloyd Boykin
  • Cloyd was a painter who had to fund himself by being a janitor (Smithsonian)
  • Palmer made this painting because people did not call him the janitor but they would also know that he was a painter too and he was trying to keep himself and his family alive.

Can be found in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C

Picture of Palmer Hayden

Palmer Hayden

By Lionel Quaynor

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Bibliography slide

  • "Search Collections." Palmer Hayden. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
  • "Search Collections." The Janitor Who Paints by Palmer Hayden / American Art. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
  • "Archives of American Art." Description of the Palmer C. Hayden Papers. Archives of American Art, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
  • "Palmer Hayden, Harlem Renaissance Artist and beyond." Welcome To "Voices That Guide Us" Personal Narratives. African-American Registry, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
  • "Palmer C. Hayden." Britannica School. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2016. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.

Lionel Quaynor

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Aaron Douglas’s The Negro in an African Setting, 1934

By:Daniel Ajay

This picture shows 2 African Americans dancing in Africa when they were free and not enslaved. The sculpture above the African’s head is spirits of the African culture. This piece of art also represents African music. This is 1 of the 4 panels created by Aaron Douglas. The first panel is this one. The second panel is one which shows African Americans being enslaved and being brought to the U.S. The third panel is one which shows them in liberation during the civil war. The last panel is African American living in the modern city. He painted under a program for the 135th street of the New York Public Library.

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Aaron Douglas

Aaron Douglas was born on May 26,1899 in Topeka,Kansas. Douglas graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor's degree in art. He became a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance Movement. People called Aaron Douglas the father of African American art. He made this piece because he wanted to show what the African Americans have been through. He started it from when they were happy in Africa and then were enslaved. Then they were liberated during the civil war and then lived in the modern city.

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Bibliography

By:Daniel Ajay

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The picture has a very deep meaning to it, which is one of the reasons in which this piece spoke to me. The tomato on the wall represents the slander and hate against the african Americans.the young girl wearing the white is innocent and seems to just missed it and had no idea what was happening

This work of art was created in 1964, and was created in resemblance of the civil rights era. A place were his artwork can be viewed is in the Rockwell Museum.

Norman Rockwell, The Problem We All Live With, 1964

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Bibliography

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Bibliography

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Charles White, We Have Been Believers, 1949

Cleveland Museum of Art

Charles White was born in 1918 in Chicago. He saw that black people could do more, so he spread his thoughts in the form of art. (White)

  • White was inspired to do good things when he found out about greatness in back people. (White)
  • “White was approaching that heroic struggle with new tools in mind” (Gilpin)
  • I think White did a smart thing when he used art to express his feelings. It probably inspired people of his race to step up because this is one of the early paintings.

Michael Bell

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Citations

Michael Bell