Introduction
The Harlem Renaissance was one of the cultural turning points in the life of the African American community of the 20th century. For centuries, African Americans were excluded from participation in the political, social, and cultural aspects of life in the country. Moreover, the mainstream American culture made strides to portray the members of the community disparagingly, further perpetuating the already prevalent racial stereotypes and prejudices. Although the African American culture was disparaged and marginalized, the early 20th century saw an unprecedented revival that translated into a social and political one. The Harlem Renaissance allowed the African American community to take control over its representation in the mainstream culture and, through participation in it, set the stage for social change.
Origins and Context of the Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of revival of African American culture in the early 20th-century United States. This period of cultural and social development, lasting from the 1910s to the mid-1930s, was named after the Harlem neighborhood in New York City, which became the cultural mecca of the African American community (“Harlem Renaissance,” 2023). At the beginning of the century, Harlem was an upper-class white neighborhood. However, the overdevelopment resulted in many buildings in the area being abandoned and landlords being forced to cater to a new target market – middle-class Black families (“Harlem Renaissance,” 2023).
The Great Migration and the Transformation of Harlem
In addition, the early 20th century was characterized by a migration of Black workers from the South of the United States to the North due to a lack of work and opportunities (“Harlem Renaissance,” 2023). With the entry of African American families into Harlem and white residents leaving the neighborhood, it was becoming one of the primary destinations for new arrivals in the city (“Harlem Renaissance,” 2023). Thus, with the rapid population shift, Harlem became the place of convergence for artists who would catapult the African American culture into the mainstream American one.
James Van Der Zee: Capturing Harlem Through Photography
Harlem was a place of creative expression for artists who strove to communicate their African-American experiences in the United States through different art forms. One of the most prominent photographers of the era was James Van Der Zee. Van Der Zee was known for his portraits of Harlem residents, which were both technical and culturally significant. In addition, the photographer often used street photography to capture the candid moments of everyday life in Harlem. For example, one such photograph captures Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican political activist, riding a car with his entourage through the streets of New York (Boone, 2020).
His other works showcased athletes, military personnel, and nurses, highlighting the important but often unnoticed role members of the community played in the life of the United States (Brown, 2019). Furthermore, Van Der Zee was highly innovative and employed elaborate sets in his studio portraits, superimposition, and other photography techniques (Brown, 2019). Thus, the artistic creativity of Van Der Zee attracted attention to his works and the subjects of his work, showing a new side of the African American community to the broader public.
Augusta Savage and the Rise of African American Sculpture
Another prominent artist of the era was the sculptor Augusta Savage. Originally from Florida, Savage faced numerous challenges, with her gender and race being weaponized against her to prevent her from receiving a formal education and starting a career in sculpture (De Leon, 2021; Umoren, 2018). In her works, Savage portrays Black faces and bodies in an aesthetic manner lacking in mainstream culture (De Leon, 2021). The sculptor’s career and works meaningfully impacted the African American community, particularly the women.
Savage became the first Black sculptor accepted into the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors (De Leon, 2021). In addition, as a student, she was commissioned to create a sculpture for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, sharing the stage with Salvador Dali, among other prominent artists (De Leon, 2021). Thus, her career set the example of African Americans being accepted into mainstream society based on merit and contribution.
Jacob Lawrence and the Legacy of African American Art
Jacob Lawrence is another African American artist who has propelled the culture of his community to be recognized by the broader society. Unlike Van Der Zee and Savage, Lawrence was active in the 1940s, after the Harlem Renaissance period officially ended (Selvin, 2020). As a representative of dynamic cubism, Lawrence made the everyday life and challenges of the African American community the main object of his paintings. He used bright colors and shapes to paint his experiences and the experiences of his peers. The series on the migration of African Americans from the southern states to the North in the early 20th century was one of his most well-renowned works (Selvin, 2020).
Thus, in his works, Lawrence shed light on the experiences of the African American community that were largely unknown or ignored by the broader American society. The artist’s success and recognition by other artists not only elevated his position but also facilitated the integration of other artists into the highly segregated art world. As a result, through their collective work, the African American community gained a new self-identity and self-determination that later translated into newfound social and political confidence.
The discussed artists and many others had a meaningful impact on developing a new Black identity. During the Harlem Renaissance, Black artists, for the first time, entered and took control of a larger discourse about Black identity, history, and culture. Before this period, African Americans were viewed and portrayed as less than human and as something to worry about, condemn, or defend (Locke, 2021).
Regardless of the perspective, Black people were stripped of agency and power over how the predominantly white art world portrayed them. Thus, the emergence of new artists who focused on depicting their authentic experiences in the country changed the narrative and gave them. Through them, the community as a whole controls its identity. It can be contended that the newly formed identity led to a gradual social and political change that culminated in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. Overall, the Harlem Renaissance showed the importance of communities seeing the representation of their lives and culture in mainstream culture and the impact it may have on society.
Conclusion
In summary, the Harlem Renaissance should not be viewed as a mere cultural revival but rather a cultural and social movement that instilled a new sense of identity and self-determination in the African American community. Through the celebration of the new Black culture and representation of African American artists in mainstream American culture, the gradual abolition of cultural segregation set the stage for social and political integration. James Van Der Zee, August Savage, Jacob Lawrence, and numerous other African American artists paved the way for the culture and the community behind it to be viewed as one deserving the same social and political rights as other communities in the country.
References
Boone, E. (2020). Reproducing the New Negro: James Van Der Zee’s Photographic Vision in Newsprint. American Art, 34(2), 4-25. Web.
Brown, K. (2019). Visual Artists’ Harlem Renaissance. In They, Too, Sang America. Rizzoli.
De Leon, C. (2021). The Black woman artist who crafted a life she was told she couldn’t have. The New York Times – Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos. Web.
Harlem Renaissance. (2023). HISTORY. Web.
Locke, A. (2021). The new Negro: Voices of the Harlem Renaissance. Open Road Media.
Selvin, C. (2020). How Jacob Lawrence used painting to powerfully tell the histories of Black Americans. ARTnews. Web.
Umoren, I. D. (2018). Race women internationalists: Activist-intellectuals and global freedom struggles. University of California Press.