Media What Makes a Portrait “Great”?
What makes a great portrait in the digital—or any—age? By looking at the works of Richard Avedon and Andy Warhol we learn that it's not enough to create just another pretty face.
Born
May 26, 1899
Died
February 2, 1979
Country
United States of America
“The father of African art.” “Dean of African American painters.” “Pioneering Africanist.” All of these honorifics have been applied to Aaron Douglas. His painting—typified by flat forms, hard edges, and repetitive geometric shapes—was strongly shaped by African motifs and culture, as well as by African American jazz music.
Douglas was drawn to Harlem from his native Kansas after hearing about the creative output of other Black artists.
Scholars W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke, who promoted the work of talented Black artists, admired Douglas’ designs and included his illustrations in leading publications. James Weldon Johnson asked Douglas to illustrate his book of poetic sermons, God’s Trombones (see below).
In 1934, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) commissioned Douglas to paint Aspects of Negro Life, a four-panel mural for the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library (see below). In the fourth panel, Song of the Towers, Douglas depicts three figures, each portraying a facet of the Black experience. The figure on the right represents the escape of formerly enslaved people, while the figure on the left symbolizes the economic hardships of African Americans. In the middle stands a saxophonist—an emblem of the new opportunities that art and music offered to Black artists during the Harlem Renaissance.
I n t e r s e c t i o n s |
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Douglas illustrated The Negro Speaks of Rivers for Langston Hughes. |
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His mural, Aspects of Negro Life, was on display at the Harlem YMCA. |
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He illustrated James Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones. |
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His work was published in the magazine Opportunity. |
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His illustrations appeared in the Survey Graphic anthology of work by Black writers. |
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What makes a great portrait in the digital—or any—age? By looking at the works of Richard Avedon and Andy Warhol we learn that it's not enough to create just another pretty face.
Can you hear that red-hot trumpet? How about the full, rich tones in the vocals of Bessie Smith? Romare Bearden makes music with his art. Learn how to “hear” a painting.
In “The Problem We All Live With,” artist Norman Rockwell took a stand against racism. Learn why a controversial painting became a symbol of the American civil rights movement.
Fasten your smock, get out your art supplies, and prepare to get your hands dirty. Examine the physics behind Alexander Calder’s mobiles, the symbolism in the botany rendered in renaissance paintings, and the careful patience used in weaving a wampum belt in this exploration of a wide range of arts.
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