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Aaron Douglas Painter & Illustrator

“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.

A black-and-white photo of an older Black American man sitting in front of an easel on which there is a painting of a younger Black man in a dark tank top and dancer tights. The artist wears reading glasses, a light-colored sweater vest over a white dress shirt and dark tie, and dark dress pants. He is dipping a paint brush into paint on a palette he holds in his left hand.

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.

A logo banner that says “Drop Me Off in Harlem” in white font on top of a transparent image of the Cotton Club. The Cotton Club image is obscured by a soft mixture of green, yellow, and pink.

I n t e r s e c t i o n s
A black-and-white photo of writer Langston Hughes wearing a brimmed hat.

Douglas illustrated The Negro Speaks of Rivers for Langston Hughes.
A black-and-white photo of the top of the Harlem YMCA building.

His mural, Aspects of Negro Life, was on display at the Harlem YMCA.
A black-and-white photo of writer James Weldon Johnson.

He illustrated James Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones.
A stylized illustration created by Aaron Douglas.

His work was published in the magazine Opportunity.
A cropped version of the cover of Survey Graphic work featuring the face of a Black man.

His illustrations appeared in the Survey Graphic anthology of work by Black writers.
harlem-line.jpg
An image of the four-panel mural by Aaron Douglas called Aspects of Negro Life. The images show the stylized, soft silhouettes of people in different outdoor scenes representing the Black experience.

Aspects of Negro Life: 1. The Negro in an African Setting, 2. An Idyll of the Deep South, 3. From Slavery to Reconstruction, 4. Song of the Towers. Painted by Aaron Douglas, 1934. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Art and Artifacts Division, The New York Public Library.

Images from God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse
by James Weldon Johnson, with artwork by Aaron Douglas

A scanned copy of a page spread for “The Prodigal Son” by James Weldon Johnson. On the left page is a stylized illustration by Aaron Douglas of three adult silhouettes underneath a spotlight and a hand playing a trombone. The edges of playing cards and a one-dollar bill align the bottom and right edge of the image. On the right page is the poem’s text.
A scanned copy of a page spread for “Listen Lord: A Prayer” by James Weldon Johnson. On the left page is a stylized illustration by Aaron Douglas of a person’s silhouetted figure. Their head tilts upward with one arm raised and the other arm extended downward. On the right page is the poem’s text.
A scanned copy of a page spread for “The Crucifixation” by James Weldon Johnson. On the left page is a stylized illustration by Aaron Douglas of a man’s silhouette as he carries a life-sized cross in his hands. Beneath him are three spear-like objects, the profile of a soldier-like person wearing a helmet, and the snout of a horse. On the right page is the poem’s text.
A scanned copy of a page spread for “Let My People Go” by James Weldon Johnson. On the left page is a stylized illustration by Aaron Douglas. On the left edge of the image are people wearing helmets on horses overlaid with waves. Spears point away from them. The sun in the upper left corner shines a bright beam of light down onto a person’s silhouette, under which the silhouettes of stream of people move away from the soldiers. On the right page is the poem’s text.
A scanned copy of a page spread for “The Creation” by James Weldon Johnson. On the left page is a stylized illustration by Aaron Douglas of a human standing on a hill next to a plant sprig. The person looks up into a sky that has a rainbow and wavy clouds, and sun flare circles arcs over them. On the right page is the poem’s text.
A scanned copy of a page spread for “Noah Built the Ark” by James Weldon Johnson. On the left page is a stylized illustration by Aaron Douglas of Noah’s Ark with the silhouetted profiles of men preparing the vessel while animals walk up the ramp into the ark. On the right page is the poem’s text.

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