Coinciding with the Great Migration by African-Americans from the South to Northern cities, the term “Harlem Renaissance” is used to describe the thriving art, music, and literary scene in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s. This set of primary sources highlights the multi-media visual art of this era, which vibrantly celebrates African-American and African history and culture. Additionally, the visual art created by African-American artists of the Harlem Renaissance sometimes offers subtle criticism of the status of African-Americans in the United States at that time.
Harlem Street with Church, a hand-colored relief print by William H. Johnson, circa 1939-1940.
Lift Every Voice and Sing (also known as The Harp), a sculpture by Augusta Savage commissioned for the 1939 World’s Fair.
Lenore, a portrait bust sculpture by Augusta Savage.
Firebirds, a lithograph by Romare Bearden.
A 1939 photograph taken at the Harlem Art Center by Berenice Abbott.
Excerpt from an oral history interview with painter Archibald Motley, 1978.
A handwritten list of pictures submitted to the Whitney Galleries by Beauford Delaney, including two oils, four charcoals, and ten pastels.
A photograph of artist and teacher Lois Jones.
A photograph of Palmer Hayden painting.
Midsummer Night in Harlem, a 1938 painting by Palmer Hayden.
African Phantasy: Awakening, a Winold Reiss illustration from the 1925 anthology The New Negro: An Interpretation, edited by Alain Locke.
Harlem Street Scene, a print by Charles Alston, circa 1935-1943.
A photograph of sculptor Leslie Garland Bolling working on a wood carving.
