John Altoon 's Jazz Players From 1950

In 1931, he used an earlier sketch of elevated tracks and skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan as the model for House and Street. Davis’ style suggests European influences, but his compositions are as distinctly American as jazz, with visual harmonies created from cacophonous patterns of bricks, checks, stripes, and polka dots. For Davis, words – from street signs to political advertisements – were an integral part of this chaotic, vibrant American landscape. The placard in House and Street that reads “SMITH” may allude to AL Smith’s failed 1928 presidential campaign, and “FRONT” is the name of a street. Yet “FRONT” could also describe the wall’s apparent position in “front” of the elevated tracks, or its flat, frontal orientation. Davis then set the right half of the composition at an angle, as if he were painting a scene from two perspectives simultaneously.” (Frames of Reference: Looking at American Art, 1900-1950. By Whitney Museum of American Art, Beth Venn, Adam D. Weinberg, Kennedy

Featured and organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Romare Bearden’s collection is one that appreciates and depicts life for what it really is. Bearden did not like abstract expressionism. Instead, he made many collages depicting life with different perspectives, allowing the viewer to see reality, but also try to figure out the true meaning that Bearden meant to portray in the collage that was not directly seen by just looking at the picture. These collages were made by “Cut and pasted printed, colored and metallic papers, photostats, pencil, ink marker, gouache, watercolor, and pen and ink on Masonite” (MET Museum). Bearden liked telling narratives within these collages involving Harlem life. Whether it was on the streets, inside

William H. Johnson was a successful painter who was born on March 18, 1901 in Florence, South Carolina. Johnson began exploring his level of creativity as a child, and it only amplified from there because he discovered that he wanted to be an artist. After making this discovery he attended the National Academy of Design in New York which is where he met his mentor Charles Webster Hawthorne who had a strong influential impact on Johnson. Once Johnson graduated he moved to Paris where he was exposed to different artists, various artistic abilities, and evolutionary creations. Throughout Johnson’s time in Paris he grew as an artist, and adapted a “folk” style where he used lively colors and flat figures. Johnson used the “folk” style to express the experience of most African-Americans during the years of the 1930s and 1940s.

The Black Arts movement refers to a period of “furious flowering” of African American creativity beginning in the mid-1960’s and continuing through much of the 1970’s (Perceptions of Black). Linked both chronologically and ideologically with the Black Power Movement, The BAM recognized the idea of two cultural Americas: one black and one white. The BAM pressed for the creation of a distinctive Black Aesthetic in which black artists created for black audiences. The movement saw artistic production as the key to revising Black American’s perceptions of themselves, thus the Black Aesthetic was believed to be an integral component of the economic, political, and cultural empowerment of the Black

Janson, H W, Penelope J. E. Davies, and H W. Janson. Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2011. Print.

Artists often paint on a clean white canvas turning it into a work of art that often portrays their emotions. The lack of relation between the characters shown in his painting, “Nighthawks”. Edward Hoppers illustrates a sense of loneliness in the painting by his use of lighting, missed opportunities, and a non-inviting use of color despite, something darker and considerably more lonely, in a word, something more modern, haunts the shadows. The nighttime scene, on a desolate street intersection, allows the viewer to glimpse inside the Phillies Five-Cent Cigar diner. As shown by the diner’s name, it was a time when cigars were smoked fashionably, and men wore stylish suits and hats, it is evident by their dress, that it depicts a different era of America.

Gioia, Ted. The Imperfect Art: Reflections on Jazz and Modern Culture. Charlotte, N.C., Replica Books, 2000, books.google.com/books?id=MfdF-vb_uGMC&lpg=PP10&ots=FqNyVyNW4d&dq=louis%20armstrong%20influence%20on%20jazz&lr&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q=louis%20armstrong%20influence%20on%20jazz&f=false.

The intersection of social movements and Art is one that can be observed throughout the civil right movements of America in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The sixties in America saw a substantial cultural and social change through activism against the Vietnam war, women’s right and against the segregation of the African - American communities. Art became a prominent method of activism to advocate the civil rights movement. It was a way to express self-identity as well as the struggle that people went through and by means of visual imagery a way to show political ideals and forms of resistance. To examine how a specific movement can have a profound effects on the visual art, this essay will focus on the black art movement of the 1960s and

Norman Rockwell, a 20th century painter was born in 1894. He depicted many scenes of American culture through his perspective until his death in 1978. I chose to do my looking assignment on his oil and graphite on canvas and wood “Framed”. I traveled to Roanoke to see this fine piece of art in the Tubman Art museum. When I first looked at this piece I was very drawn to the texture. By the looks of the picture I took, you cannot really tell that this piece is textured. This piece depicts a picture of a man who seems to be a museum worker holding a frame and essentially framing himself in it. In this piece you also see other pieces of art hanging on the wall around him giving him a wide variety of very expressive looks. You see in this painting that Rockwell used a picture inside of a picture to tell the story of the museum worker.

As you arrive into the reception area of the Cleveland Museum of Art, you are greeted with silence. The clomping of shoes and whispers of fellow museum goers about what the “true meaning” behind the piece is fills the air. The first floor of the museum is dedicated to historical artifacts and artwork dating in the time period called Before Common Era (B.C.E.). Each piece is accompanied by a placard on the wall courtesy of the museum. The pieces are approximately dated, described, and an explanation of how each piece was used is given in the short paragraph.

At 11, Wiley’s mother enrolled him and his twin in a small art conservatory program at Cal State, and in the summer of 1989, he was sent to Russia for training in classical painting. After excelling in this program, he went on to earn his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and his MFA for the Yale University School of Art. Although Wiley achieved things beyond his neighborhood, he did not forget the black struggle he was familiar with growing up.

(2005). In D. Bjelajac, American Art: A Cultural History (pp. 37-129). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, Inc.

During the early 1900’s, a new style of music began to take shape in the colorful city of New Orleans. People from all over the world came to exchange stories, conversation, and music. Although it is a very hard genre of music to define, it is said that Jazz is the combination of European and African music that was brought in via the ports. With mostly an African American population, the musicians shared their music in Storyville - a cultural melting pot, and began to spread the “New Orleans Sound”. They contributed to what would soon be known as Jazz in 1917. The spontaneous nature of Jazz’s syncopation and sound makes it a very humanistic style of music and makes every performance original. Every day we improvise, whether it is in conversation or spur of the moment decisions. These truly unique elements caused Jazz to become a symbol of America, and changed music forever.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time when a multitude of African Americans voiced themselves through literary and musical culture during the years that followed World War I, which started in the year 1914 and ended around 1919, in the Harlem area of New York City (Stevenson). Having a solid adoration for black literature and the arts have provided me with the motivation needed to write this research paper on the topic of the Harlem Renaissance. This topic is not only historical, but it is also a creative one as well. Furthermore, the Harlem Renaissance is, in my opinion a different subject matter to discuss rather than just the normal topics, for example World Wars, Civil Rights, and things of that nature. It is essential to know the history of where black art comes from.

The use of geometric shapes in this painting allows the subject to be viewed in both a recognizable and unrecognizable state at the same time. Overall, geometric shapes and patterns play an essential role in what the viewer sees, which is further supported by a powerful color palate.