Harlem renaissance

Harlem Renaissance The Harlem renaissance which also became known as the “ new negro movement” had started in the 1920’s and the 1930’s in New York City. It showed high levels of creativity among the African American population residing in the New York City. It marked out the basis of the African American expression and the African Americans were motivated to celebrate their heritage through literature, arts and other forms of art. The early years of the Harlem renaissance were characterized by the migration of large number of African Americans to the urban centers such as Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia, Washington. They were doing this to escape the oppression faced by them right after World War I and thus it started a cultural movement which later became known as the Harlem Renaissance. The cultural movement was viewed and realized by the political activists, artists, musicians, and cultural elite, all of them having a longer term vision for the future (Powell).
The painting that I have chosen to discuss is the Jeunesse, made by Palmer Hayden using water color. It is the collection of Dr Meredith F Sirmans and it shows the enthusiasm of the jazz, which is a musical form developed during 1920’s by the African Americans and also inclined towards the European form of art of the harmonic structure and the complex African rhythm culture. Jazz is usually identified by its blue rhythms and distinctive speech annotations (Powell). The painting shows a couple dancing to the jazz song and they seem to be swayed way by the music and are totally into it. The painter could’ve seen this view in hotel Savoy, many believe as it was a famous jazz club of the time. It talks about the importance of the dance in African Americans and how they expressed themselves through this.
The Italian poet Filippo Marinetti is the writer of the futurist manifesto which was a document published in 1909 in the French newspaper Le Figaro and in the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dell ‘ Emilia. It was an artistic and cultural movement initiated in Italy in the early 20th century and then spread through entire Europe. The major focus of this movement was the trends that would take importance in the coming years such as speed, power, technology, youth empowerment, violence and all these concepts were explored by various artists through their artworks. The different art forms used by these futuristic artists were sculptures, paintings, theatre arts such as plays. They were also evident in the daily settings such as the interior designing as well as the architecture of the buildings. Futurist movement artists were the first ones to talk about cars, airplanes, industrial cities. They emphasized on the significance given to art including literature, poetry saying that with the progress of the world will not hinder the value which is given to arts in the world (Nash).
The literature will continue to educate man and it will absorb the progress happening in the world so that man uses it instinctively where as poetry will help to fulfill the meaning of life for man and they will find an innate beauty in all this. the manifesto also talks of how the progression will help the artists of the future to innovate and produce art pieces that were impossible to produce back then and if we contemplate on this, it seems true as now the music produced has so many instruments used and so many newer tones and other tunes can be produced. Besides this other forms of arts such as paintings, poetry, film drama, theatre has seen majorly new innovations.
Works Cited
Nash, William R. ” Harlem Renaissance.” n. d. Oxford University Press. 17 February 2012 .
Powell, Richard J. ” Art of the Harlem Renaissance.” American Art Review 10 (2005): 132-137.