Aaron Douglas
American, 1899-1979
Study for Aspects of Negro Life: The Negro in an African Setting
INV-1182
Aaron Douglas
American, 1899-19791934
Study for Aspects of Negro Life: The Negro in an African Setting
Aaron Douglas American, 1899-1979 →gouachepainting
Date
1934
Medium
Gouache, with touches of graphite, on illustration board
Dimensions
37.2 × 40.6 cm (14 11/16 × 16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Solomon Byron Smith and Margaret Fisher funds
Aaron Douglas made this finished study for the first of five murals intended for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. The murals depict the history of African Americans, from their origins in Africa to life in America in the 1930s. Blending Egyptian figures in profile and West African masks with cubism and art deco, Douglas utilized a hybrid Western-African aesthetic that became a hallmark of the Harlem Renaissance.