//aaron
douglas ::05/26/1898 - 02/22/1979 ::aaron douglas was the best-known painter
of the harlem renaissance and, during his long career, one of the best black
painters of his generation. he completed a bachelor of fine arts degree at
the university of kansas, in which state he had been born, when he was twenty-four.
after teaching in kansas city high schools for two years, he began to study
under winold reiss (bavarian; professor of mural painting at new york university;
pioneer in the depiction of blacks as individuals rather than ethnic stereotypes),
the white artist who influenced a number of young black painters. douglas
held a barnes foundation fellowship in 1928, and he exhibited his work at
the harmon foundation that same year. douglas designed the posters for the
krigwa players (a little african-american theatre group organized by w.e.b.
dubois), painted a series of murals in the harlem branch of new york public
library, and illustrated the publicity for carl van vechten's nigger heaven,
but he is probably better known for his work in many periodicals: vanity fair,
theatre arts, the crisis, sun, opportunity, boston transcript, and american
mercury. furthermore, he illustrated books and their advertisements by countee
cullen, james weldon johnson, langston hughes, and alain locke. in later years
douglas was a member of the faculty at fisk university.
//aspects
of negro life ::the four-panel series aspects of negro life tracks the journey
of african-americans from freedom in africa to enslavement in the united states
and from liberation after the civil war to life in the modern city. the four
panels are called: the negro in an african setting, an idyll in the south,
from slavery through reconstruction, song of the towers. they were all composed
in 1934. the mural can be found at the countee cullen branch of the new york
public library.