Malvin Gray Johnson's "Negro Soldier" Analysis

Visual Analysis: Malvin Gray Johnson's "Negro Soldier"

• The 1934 oil on canvas painting uses color contrast
• The subject's facial expression includes a blank stare
• The subject has a detached feeling from witnessing war atrocities
• The canvas position slides down due to distortion and dissymmetry, evocative of Picasso

Key Timeline Events

• Civil War begins in 1861
• 1863: Emancipation Proclamation
• 1865: 13th Amendment abolishes slavery
• Civil War ends leading to Reconstruction Era
• 1870: 15th Amendment grants men of all races the right to vote
• 1877: Compromise of 1877 ends Reconstruction Era
• 1896: Plessy V. Ferguson establishes "separate but equal" ruling
• 1909: NAACP founded
• 1914: UNIA founded
• 1917: U.S. enters WWI

The Harlem Hellfighters

• A photograph depicts the 369th Infantry Regiment, an all-Black WWI unit
• The photograph shows them returning home from the war in 1919
• On February 17, 1919, the 15th New York National Guard Regiment marched into Harlem as a public parade
• These men were known as the "Harlem Hellfighters", a nickname given by the Germans
• Black soldiers and civilians alike hoped for better treatment after bravely serving and proving their patriotism

Jacob Lawrence's "The Migration Series (Panel 1)"

• 1940-41 casein tempera on hardboard
• Black people are shown moving into cities from the South
• The painting uses block-like color and Pan-Africanism colors, similar to a poster
• The artwork lacks depth and facial features
• Everyone is looking in the same direction
• The industry in the South was mechanism based
• People fled from intense discrimination and violence in hopes for a better life and industrialization
• The boll weevil and sharecropping contributed to the migration
• Uncertainty, cultural force, sideways travel and horizontal migration, and confusion characterize migration

Social Climate Context

• The film "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) directs visual arts in America
• Supporters of white supremacy believe the film tells the truth
• The film was shown at The White House
• The NAACP protested the film
• An unidentified photographer captured a Ku Klux Klan rally in Lincoln, Maine in 1923, in a Gelatin silver print postcard
• Marcus Garvey founded the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
• He was known for driving around Harlem in dressed-up outfits
• He moved to Harlem

Henry Ossawa Tanner

• James VanDerZee, Marcus Garvey in Regalia
• A black painter in 1907 who was looked up to as a symbol of success not necessarily a part of the Black Renaissance
• He was born in Philly with lighter skin and faced racism
• Moves to Paris
• Thomas Eakins, The Gross Clinic, 1875, oil on canvas, depicts surgical history and advancements in American medicine
• Tanner studied under Eakins in Philadelphia
• Thomas Eakins, The Dancing Lesson, 1878, watercolor on paper
• He was interested in painting black folks

Visual Analysis Excercise

• Meta Warrick Fuller created "Ethiopia Awakening" in 1914
• Ethiopia Awakening is made of bronze
• The Patina is aging
• The figure is elongated with closed eyes and a relaxed face
• There is a hand to heart and draped headpiece
• It's similar to Egyptian style art
• Ethiopia Awakening is the first Pan-African sculpture

Selected Works by Tanner and Eakins

• Eakins' "The Gross Clinic" (1875) features only one female figure
• The nurse is painted on the bottom left who is afraid of the scene
• Tanner's "The Banjo Lesson" (1893) depicts Black figures and the passing of knowledge
• The banjo is considered an African instrument
• Light and movement, private sphere and homelife
• Tanner aims for sympathetic portraits of Black people
• Tanner's "The Thankful Poor" (1894 didn't want to be defined as just a Black artist
• Tanner's "Annunciation" (1898)
• Tanner's "Christ and his Mother Studying the Scriptures" (c. 1908)
• Tanner traveled to Paris a lot
• He was interested in Negritude
• Black individuals experienced better conditions in Paris than elsewhere

Alain Locke

• Alain Locke (1885-1954) was an important figure in the Harlem Renaissance known for "The New Negro"
• He was born in Philly to a Black middle-class family
• He studied at Harvard and earned a PhD in Philosophy
• He identified trends
• He published in Survey Graphic magazine

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller

• Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877-1968) studied at the Penn Museum of Arts
• She was from Philly and middle class
• Key themes in her art are sad, death and Ethiopia Awakening
• She was one of the earliest Black women in sculpture to make African style artwork
• She traveled to Paris

W.E.B. DuBois & Other Artists

• W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963) was concerned with the concerns for Black individuals
• Pablo Picasso was interested in African masks
• Auguste Rodin, The Thinker, 1904 was interested in the human condition
• Meta Warrick Fuller, Man Eating Out His Heart, 1901 was inspired by Stephen Crane
• Meta Warrick Fuller, Talking Skull, 1937 is based on West African Folklore

Works by Meta Warrick Fuller

• Meta Warrick Fuller, In memory of Mary Turner: As a Silent Protest Against Mob Violence, 1918
• It represents lynching in retaliation of pregnant women for protesting the lynching of her husband
• Meta Warrick Fuller, Bust of a Young Boy, 1914
• She moved from Pennsylvania to Framingham
• She secretly practiced her art in a private studio
• Example of creating art from what's around her

Aaron Douglas's "Building More Stately Mansions"

• A visual analysis exercise of Aaron Douglas, Building More Stately Mansions, 1944, Oil on canvas
• It shows a journey or tells a story
• The painting depicts the strains on a working class and traditional motifs
• Layering of colors and shapes creates dynamic shadows and depth, similar to sun rays
• Aaron Douglas presents a visionary scene of soaring architectural monuments
• The painting celebrates the contributions of people to the achievements of human civilization
• Aaron Douglas was document the history of the African-American experience through visual art
• His style is a expression of the oppression and resistance of African Americans

Winold Reiss's "Alain Locke"

• Visual analysis exercise of Winold Reiss, Alain Locke, 1925, Pastel on board
• The portrait feels somewhat unfinished
• Majority of the color is focused on the figure's face and hands
• Reiss takes interest in painting people of color, humanizing and seeing people within a global community
• It is not fetishizing
• Shown by relationship he had with individuals of color

Other Artists and their Works

• Winold Reiss, Harlem Night, 1925 has an art nouveau which is more natural
• Reiss also has an art deco, which is machinery
• Reiss studies both Harlem Rooftops and Composition
• Winold Reiss and Girl with Blanket
• Winold Reiss, Portrait of Sari Patton
• Winold Reiss, Paul Robeson
• Winold Reiss, Langston Hughes
• Winold Reiss, Short Haired Young Man in Collarless Shirt uses a dark background and a frontal facing perspective

Aaron Douglas's "The Prodigal Son"

• Visual analysis exercise by Aaron Douglas, The Prodigal Son, 1927, Oil on board
• It uses a geometric pattern
• Change in color where the light is shined emphasizes jazz, nightlife, and culture
• Dance, money, cards, music drinks and records are included
• It symbolizes an escape from economic, political or societal issues
• Nondescript figures but gender and possibly race are included
• Depicts access to nightlife and over indulgence
• Kansas, Nebraska, Harlem

Artists and Illustrators

• Illustration covers for the NAACP and The Crisis publication are selected
• Racial commitment in artwork for the Harlem night similar to The Crisis magazine cover
• Opportunity (journal publication)
• Unidentified artist, Dan mask, late 19th-early 20th century
• The Dan Mask has eye slits, rounded lips, and a symmetrical look
• Cover jacket of God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse, 1927
• Text by James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), illustration by Aaron Douglas
• Douglas produced 7 works of art

More of Douglas's Work

• Douglas made illustrations for The Crucifixion
• A similar style to building more stately mansions is used
• Religious paintings use light
• White Christianity merged with African heritage
• Simon is shown carrying the cross for Jesus
• Judgement Day, 1939 uses Art Nouveau
• Depicts Water and land and layered terrain
• Go Down Death, 1927 is a funeral sermon
• Oil painting
• The painting moves from mundane everyday life to the after life with a more happier depiction
• Noah's Ark, 1927 is uplifting
• Let My People Go, ca is uplifting and formatic
• Circles form what looks like the sun

Continued Works of the Time

• The Creation 1927 in a gouache paper is 1935 in oil
• The Prodigal Son, 1927. 7th piece indoors which is more modern
• Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998) was born in Boston
• Studied at the school of MFA and later Mass Art
• The artist Traveled to Paris, Haiti, Ivory Coast
• The Ascent of Ethiopia, 1932. She was a textile designer so she used the pattern in the painting

Lois Mailou Jones work "The Ascent of Ethiopia"

• She was a textile designer so the patterns are utilized in the paints
• Has vibrant colors
• It's depicting the journey of Africa in city scenes
• Ethiopia was never colonized
• Egyptian art seems to be confusing originals
• It's easier to go to when referring to Africa
• Meta Warrick Fuller created "Ethiopia Awakening" in 1914

Meta Warrick Fuller

• Meta Warrick Fuller, Les Fetiches, 1938
• A Oil painting shows the Flattening of plains
• Jeny, 1943 depicts Jardin du Luxembourg with Diversity in painting skills
• Ubi Girl from Tai Region, interest in design

Malvin Gray Johnson

• Malvin Gray Johnson left home at 16 to war
• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, 1928-29 shows enslave people
• It's used a communal worship
• Negro Masks, 1932. Used the term “Negro” instead of “African” and is Challenging the academic painting
• Self-portrait. A painting features a mask

William H. Johnson's "Portrait With Sunflowers"

• Visual Analysis Practice
• Vibrant colors
• Distortion of figures
• There is a 2d feel
• William H. Johnson was born in South Carolina then moved to NYC
• Studied at the national academy of Design alongside of Painting

The Works of William H. Johnson

• Fisher Children
• Allen Street which focuses on the weaker subjects
• Young Pastry Chef you can pull away from realistic practices
• Thinking of painting more expressive
• Boats in the Harbor
• Still life jugs, pitchers and bottles he toured the world with his touring wife
• Young man can't feel

More Works of William H Johnson

• Cafe
• Mount Calvary: displays Garment patterns
• Moon over Harlem: The painting looks out toward the viewer and asks 'what should we do?'
• Chain Gang
• Layers
• Mom and Dad: There is a portrait of Mother with father in the Photo
• Li’l Sis
• “Crute” Drill

Palmer Hayden

• Palmer Hayden also birth name was Payton
• Military
• Stays in military until 1920
• Contro artists
• The artist paints black people in a racist way
• We Quatre A Paris
• Roundness
• We have a midsummer night in Harlem
• The subway and travels to France

Palmer Hayden (Controversial Artist)

• Palmer Hayden, The Subway, c. 1930 uses Synthetic cubism
• Retiche et Pleurs, c. 1933: This is an evolution of artists with alterations a
• Trash can is in contrast to The easel
• John Henry Is hammer in hand
• Diversity
• Cloyd Boykin,
• Horace pippin Only was painting for the rehab of his arm

Horace Pippin

• One’s personal experience
• Racism is an effect
• German soilders are surrendering
• Use of color with Brit soldiers
• Cabin in the cotton
• The park bench
• Mid term review

James A. Porter

• Critical and did not enjoy black art
• Was on the board
• Alain and bois are heading to African heritage
• The big are what’s to what they are viewing
• This all had influence
• They were very open to the art

Harlem Renaissance

• The artists were to say
• Jim crow
• A job because other white ppl had to work
• Tension was boiling because that tension had broken
• Believer in singular power and to homeland
• Unite
• Support the community

Aspects of the Harlem Renaissance

• Opportunities of civil unrest
• Walace Thurman editor
• Dedicating them to the young
• Less conservative
• Who supported black artists a whole lot
• There was segregated
• More of a black power point

Harlem Renaissance Artists

• James weldon wrote the texts
• Alaim has a certain style
• Lois painted masks
• George S said that there wasn’t a diff
• Longston wanted to have more support

Styles of Art

• Belief on culture
• There styles of art that were independent
• Collection between all art

Realism

• Everyday life
• Realism is what happens
• Henry was realism

Douglas and Meta

• Deco and cubism style
• Scale
• African influence
• Shapes
• Sculpture is meta

Artists

• Winold
• German
• The negro ok
• Haven was real
• Wll Johnson folk
• African was often shown
• Horace was hard to find
• Louis
• Patterns of art showed her style