#harlemrenaissance — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #harlemrenaissance, aggregated by home.social.
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"Mother and Daughter," Laura Wheeler Waring, 1927.
Waring (1887-1948) was the great portrait artist of the Harlem Renaissance, chronicling many of the major figures of the era. However, in this portrait of two unidentified women, she confronts a social reality.
This is actually a daring painting for the time as it confronts the realities of mixed-race marriages, at the time a highly controversial subject. (Remember, the Supreme Court didn't legalize mixed-race marriage until the 60s.) Here we have the Black mother and the white-presenting daughter, looking very different but also very alike; even their noses are identical.
What's interesting here is how she takes the style of classical Roman portraits (there are similar ones out there), and mixes it with modernist techniques, as well as a modern social sensibility. The two women seem almost like allies, facing the world together. Mother looks determined; daughter perhaps a bit less so, but still, they're there together.
A remarkable painting!
Happy Portrait Monday!
From a private collection.
#Art #LauraWheelerWaring #HarlemRenaissance #BlackHistory #Family #MotherAndDaughter #PortraitMonday
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"Girl in a Pink Dress," Laura Wheeler Waring, 1927.
Waring (1887-1948) was THE great portrait artist of the Harlem Renaissance. Her depictions of major figures in Black history make her worthy of study.
Here we have a portrait of an unidentified young Black woman in a stylist 20s dress, with a stylish 20s hairdo. This is a young lady of fashion, very up-to-the-minute.
But also, her youth, the choice of pink for her dress, and the corsage at her shoulder...this hints at blossoming and young vitality. "Here," Wheeler may be saying, "is the future of Black America, just coming into blossom!"
I've talked about Waring before, including her many portraits and her years teaching, so I won't go into her life story. But I just love this portrait of a young, vital, serene woman, waiting to take on the world.
Happy Portrait Monday!
From a private collection.
#Art #LauraWheelerWaring #WomenArtists #WomenInArt #BlackHistoryMonth #PortraitMonday #HarlemRenaissance #YouthInBlossom #FutureOfAmerica
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"I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" is a 1935 #popular song with music by #FredEAhlert and lyrics by #JoeYoung. It has been recorded many times, and has become a standard of the #GreatAmericanSongbook. It was popularized by #FatsWaller, who recorded it in 1935 at the height of his fame. It is one of several songs from the #HarlemRenaissance featured in the Broadway musical #AintMisbehavin. The lyrics are addressed to a lover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYZkU0786RM -
"Girl in a Green Cap," Laura Wheeler Waring, 1930.
Waring (1887-1948) was THE great portraitist of the Harlem Renaissance, painting many of the notable Black people of the era.
Born in Hartford, CT, the daughter of a minister, her family was educated and cultured, and her ancestors had been part of the Underground Railroad. She attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, graduating in 1914. She traveled briefly in Europe, returning home when WWI started, but returned in the 20s, where she honed her style and exhibited in Paris galleries.
Returning to the US in 1927, she was commissioned to do portraits of figures of the Harlem Renaissance; this project, along with her work teaching at Cheyney University, an HBCU outside Philadelphia, was to consume the rest of her life. Her work is now featured in some of the country's top museums and galleries.
The subject of this portrait is unknown, but her calm confidence and self-assurance, and that knockout outfit, are beyond question.
Happy Portrait Monday!
From the Howard University Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
#Art #LauraWheelerWaring #Portrait #PortraitMonday #HarlemRenaissance #BlackHistory #MLKDay #BelieveInYourself
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James Van Der Zee’s Dreamlike Images of the Departed
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“That must be the reason … why poverty-stricken old Negroes … lived so long — because to them, no matter how hard life might be, it was not without laughter.”
— Langston Hughes, Not Without Laughter (Chapter 25)
#books #fiction #HarlemRenaissance #art -
Gotta love Radio 3 - the 1st of FIVE episodes of Composer of The Week all devoted to the #HarlemRenaissance This week - Willie 'The Lion' Smith. 🎧 🎼 🎵 🎶 #Jazz #JazzPiano Originally broadcast November 2022 (And yes, I know the #BBC news coverage is currently shite.) www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the ... -
“Police were on the alert to suppress disorder, except what they created.” — George Schuyler, Black No More (1931) #books #scifi #Afrofuturism #HarlemRenaissance
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“Window Cleaning,” by Aaron Douglas, oil on canvas, 1935, Sheldon Museum of Art.
I love this painting partly because it’s so different from the famous Aaron Douglas paintings, which I also love.
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The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Just finished reading this excellent 1912 novel by James Weldon Johnson - the fictional account of a young biracial man living in the post-Reconstruction era of America. The title of the book is a bit misleading since throughout most of the lead character's story he is exploring his place in society with full acknowledgment of his true racial identity.
Weldon was a writer + civil rights activist - an early leader of the NAACP. He was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems + wrote the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which later became known as the Black National Anthem.
#autobiographyofanexcoloredman #jamesweldonjohnson #writer #author #poet #novel #mybookshelf #myreadinglist #book #books #booklist #bookworld #lifteveryvoiceandsing #harlemrenaissance
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William H. Johnson
Mountain Blossoms
1937
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#WilliamHJohnson #HarlemRenaissance #landscapeart #art #painting -
Celebrating Juneteenth
Photography by Carl Van Vechten in 1950s Harlem:
1) actor James Earl Jones
2) writer James Baldwin
3) Billie Holiday
4) writer WEB DuBois#carlvanvechten #writer #writers #photographer #zoranealehurston #joycebryant #actor #africanamericanhistory #blackhistory #jamesearljones #singer #jamesbaldwin #author #billieholiday #webdubois #harlem #1950s #1950sharlem #harlemrenaissance #photography #50sstyle #style #juneteenth
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Celebrating Juneteenth
Photography by Carl Van Vechten in 1950s Harlem:
1) writer Zora Neal Hurston
2) singer Joyce Bryant
3) actress Carmen De Lavallade
4) painter Ladybird Cleveland#carlvanvechten #writer #writers #photographer #zoranealehurston #joycebryant #actress #actor #africanamericanhistory #blackhistory #carmendelavallade #ladybirdcleveland #painter #ladybirdstrickland #author #1950sharlem #harlemrenaissance #photography #50sstyle #style #juneteenth
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Treasure of the day! Why not visit Persia Walker's lovely clean, crisp website where you can order & download DRM-free ebooks for reasonable prices, directly from the author.
https://bookstore.persiawalker.com/
I just got one myself: "Goodfellow House", since I might as well start with first in the series.
#ebooks #bookstodon #PersiaWalker
#HarlemRenaissance -
Passing
Just read this 1929 novel by American author Nella Larsen. The story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends + the discovery that one is 'passing' in a mixed race marriage.
Born in Chicago, Larsen was part of the Harlem Renaissance of the 20s + 30s. She wrote 2 novels during this time.
Photographs are by Carl Van Vechten
A film adaption of the novel was made in 2021 by Rebecca Hall.
#passing #nellalarsen #harlem #harlemrenaissance #novel #readinglist #book #books #mybookshelf #reading #livres #buch #bücher #carlvanvechten
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started a #wikipedia article on US writer, editor, Marian Minus (1914-1972): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Minus @wikiwomeninred @wikilovespride @fiskuniversity #UniversityofChicago #MarthasVineyard #RichardWright #DorothyWest #HarlemRenaissance #Chicago #WomenWriters
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CityBeautifulTours presents "Harlem History: From Colonial Times to Harlem Renaissance" - our comprehensive exploration of how a Dutch farming village transformed into the world-renowned cradle of Black artistic achievement. Trace the neighborhood's journey through centuries of change, waves of immigration, and cultural revolution. Discover the historical threads that connect today's Harlem to its multilayered past. #HarlemHistory #HarlemRenaissance #NYCHistory
https://citybeautifulblog.com/2025/04/27/harlem-history-from-colonial-times-to-harlem-renaissance/ -
"Study of a Student," Laura Wheeler Waring, c. 1940s.
Waring (1887-1948) was one of the great painters of the Harlem Renaissance, known for her deservedly famous portraits of figures such as singer Marian Anderson or author Jesse Redmon Fauset. Here we have a portrait of an unidentified woman, looking bored as anything. I feel for her!
The handling seems a bit clumsy, but this was only a study, something done in preparation for another painting, so one can't expect perfection from it. So many of her other portraits are detailed and realistic....but despite being basically a rough draft, it still has charm.
From the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.
#Art #BlackArtists #WomenArtists #WomenInArt #Portraits #LauraWheelerWaring #HarlemRenaissance #PortraitMonday
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Such insightful, gorgeous #writing:
“How absurd she had been to think that another country, other people, could liberate her from the ties which bound her forever to these mysterious, these terrible, these fascinating, these lovable, dark hordes. Ties that were of the spirit. Ties not only superficially entangled with mere outline of features or color of skin. Deeper. Much deeper than either of these …. Not that she intended to remain …. In spite of its glamour, existence in America, even Harlem, was for Negroes too cramped, too uncertain, too cruel; something not to be endured for a lifetime if one could escape; something demanding a courage greater than was in her. No. She couldn’t stay. Nor, she saw now, could she remain away. Leaving, she would have to come back.”
— Nella Larsen, Quicksand (1928)
#books #fiction #art #history #HarlemRenaissance -
"The Harlem Renaissance encompassed poetry and prose, painting and sculpture, jazz and swing, opera and dance. What united these diverse art forms was their realistic presentation of what it meant to be black in America, what writer Langston Hughes called an “expression of our individual dark-skinned selves,” as well as a new militancy in asserting their civil and political rights."
#BlackHistoryMonth #BlackArt #HarlemRenaissance
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/new-african-american-identity-harlem-renaissance -
started a #wikipedia article on US poet, educator, and social worker, Ethel M. Caution-Davis (1887-1981): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Caution-Davis @wikiwomeninred #BlackHistoryMonth #WomenWriters #HarlemRenaissance #YWCA #WellesleyCollege #BostonLatin
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A little while spring will claim its own,
In all the land around for mile on mile
Tender grass will hide the rugged stone.
My still heart will sing a little while.And men will never think this wilderness
Was barren once when grass is over all,
Hearing laughter they may never guess
My heart has known its winter and carried gall.- Arna Bontemps, "My Heart Has Known Its Winter"