Depictions of Harlem

In the city of Harlem pulsates the African American heartbeat. Even for those of us who aren’t Harlem born and raised, there’s something about that place that draws all African American people. If Africa is considered the motherland, then Harlem would be considered that for those black children who grew up in the United States. This “we, real cool” swagger and attitude, the fierce determination, the quest to endure. This is Harlem. This is the African American. And over the course of the early 1920s when the Harlem Renaissance starts to take place, this begins to give identity to a group of people who had struggled to find where they belong. And while the Harlem Renaissance is known for the music, jazz, and other art forms that gave the city a sense of rhythm, it’s also a place of just everyday life, of dreams, of children’s playgrounds; this also is a part of the rhythm and beat of Harlem life. And this is what too makes it so powerful; that any African American can relate and be apart of this city. It tells our story. It gives us a home. In this exhibition, there will be several art works displayed depicting of what life is like in Harlem. We, as the viewers, are given an intimate look into what these African American artists see when they are in Harlem and what stands out to them. Therefore, as we enter into this world, we must be still and listen to what Harlem and these artists have to say to us.

Palmer C. Hayden, Midnight Summer in Harlem, 1936, oil on canvas 25x30in., Museum of African American Art, Los Angeles 

Hayden is best known for his seascape images of the Harlem everyday life. This illustration is considered to be one of his most famous works. But, as one can see, this picture of Harlem is striking; the African Americans are all depicted in typical minstrel fashion. Hayden received much criticism by the African American community for the way he tended to depict African American people. But scholars debate that maybe he was getting at a broader issue on the African American identity that W.E. DuBois’ talks about in his works about who African Americans are and how can one find meaning and purpose in an unforgiving society.

William H. Johnson, Harlem Street, 1941, oil on canvas, accession number: 1990.237

Johnson was known for using a primitive style of painting to depict the experience of African Americans in the 1930s and 40s. His style, technically known as folk, used bright colors and two-dimensional figures. Johnson’s expressionist background helps him to create a beautiful picture that allows the viewer to gain understanding of how Johnson feels about Harlem. The bright colors and quick brushstrokes are not meant to be counted as carelessness. This is not a realistic illustration but more of a snapshot of a moment in Harlem in Johnson’s mind. 

Jacob Lawrence, The Photographer, 1942, watercolor, gouache and graphite on paper,

56.2x77.5 cm, Smithsonian American Museum of Art, D.C.

Lawrence, a social realist, was one of the first nationally recognized African American artists. His commitment to showing the universal beauty of the human struggle in life to improve our social position is what makes his works so powerful. He is dedicated to showing the African American in Harlem in their complete traditional essence. The flattened shapes, highly saturated colors, and distinctive patterns create a story about the everyday life in Harlem.

Norman Lewis, Harlem Courtyard, 1954, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Museum

of Art, D.C.

Lewis began his career a social realist but by the 1950s had completely moved to non-objective abstractionism. He was one of the first American Americans to do so. Inspired by sources that include music, nature, Japanese, Chinese and African art, Lewis freely explored different forms of abstract art. The Harlem Courtyard, with the crisscrossing lines that illustrate streets, is a quick sketch of a particular moment in time. He made this painting to depict a non-representational image to the public.

Street Story Quilt, Faith Ringgold, 1985, acrylic, ink marker, dyed fabric, and sequins on

canvas, sewn to quilted fabric, 90x144 in., accession number: 2001.205

Ringgold, who was concerned with issues of feminism and racism throughout her career, uses a new art form of story quilts, a tradition of black women, to depict a powerful image. She uses imagery and language to illustrate scenes set in an apartment complex in Harlem of survival and redemption with a boy named A.J. as the main character. This three part scene goes through the tragedies that have occurred in A.J.’s life to the moment where he becomes famous and has come home to bring his grandmother back with him to California.

The Block, Romare Bearden, 1971, cut and pasted printed, colored and metallic papers,

Photostats, graphite, ink marker, gouache, watercolor, and ink on Masonite, 48x216 in.,

accession number: 1978.61

Romare Bearden creates this piece of artwork as an illustration to Langston Hughes’ poem called “The Block”. We are given an inside look into what Harlem is to Romare as he celebrates his childhood summers spent there through these six different panels. Inspired by cubism and abstractionism, Bearden attempted to depict Harlem and the people as they naturally  were.