Aaron Douglas The Father of Black American Art Essay

Aaron Douglas The Father of Black American Art - Essay Example He was an artist who not only extended the boundaries drawn by previous painters, in favour of African writers but also created portrayals of the African-American experience that recognized its history in African heritage. His paintings never need words for they were those creations that speak themselves.Aaron Douglas, born in Topeka, Kansas on May 26, 1899 was a born artist since childhood and was lucky enough to be appreciated by his parents. Douglas graduated in arts from the University of Nebraska in 1922. In 1944, he felt an urge to teach what he learnt throughout his life so he graduated once again from Teachers College of Columbia University. After graduating, he taught in Kansas Art schools for a few years but then after realizing his true goal was not in teaching but in doing something that would contribute towards the black culture, he began to study with Winold Reiss, an illustrator who motivated to identify and contribute to his racial identity, Aaron Douglas, started ill ustrating advertisements for books and magazines like 'Nigger Heaven'. "Douglas' use of African design and subject matter in his work brought him to the attention of William Edward Burghardt, DuBois and Alain Locke who were pressing for young African-American artists to express their African heritage and African-American folk culture in their art. This was during the 'Harlem Renaissance' and Aaron Douglas became a leading visual artist during this time. In fact, he was called the "Dean of African-American painters" at a time when DuBois and others were trying desperately to convince painter Henry O. Tanner to return from Europe and establish a school of Negro painting". (Exhibition, 2006) "Douglas' work was published regularly in The Crisis. He also illustrated for Opportunity and Vanity Fair magazines. His most famous illustrations were for James Weldon Johnson's book of poetic sermons, God's Trombones. Alain Locke called him a "pioneering Africanist" and used his illustrations in his famous anthology, The New Negro, published in 1925 in which his classic essay "The Legacy of the Ancestral Arts" appeared". (Exhibition, 2006) "Douglas' talents allowed him to become a successful muralist. He was commissioned to do the murals for the 1920 opening in the Club Ebony in Harlem. In 1929, he travelled to Chicago to create a mural for the Sherman Hotel's College Inn Ballroom. At the end of 1930, Douglas created another mural for Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. James A. Porter wrote about Douglas in Modern Negro Art that "...most of his murals are based on themes from Negro history.... Douglas' mural style is the result of a rationalization of form. He has adopted a formula for Negro physical characteristics which depends on two effects of design: elongation and angularization.... his Negro forms appear to be linked with a context of primitive dance patterns"." (Artnoirs Art History, 2006) Later Douglas acquired the opportunity to share and further expand his talents of painting and sculpture by visiting Paris. "On his return to the United States in 1928, Douglas became the first president of the Harlem A rtists Guild. The Guild was successful in helping to get African-American artists the necessary acceptance into the arts project under the U.S. Government's Works Progress Administration (WPA)". (Artnoirs Art History, 2006) "Douglas joined the faculty of Fisk University in 1937 and stayed there until his retirement in 1966. His artistic insight is a lasting influence and a testament to the themes of African heritage and racial pride". (Exhibition, 20