Untitled

Aaron Douglas (American, 1899–1979)

1930

Medium/Technique Gouache on artist's board

Dimensions Sheet: 35.1 × 46 cm (13 13/16 × 18 1/8 in.)
Image: 30.6 × 40.8 cm (12 1/16 × 16 1/16 in.)
Framed: 42.5 × 56.4 × 2.5 cm (16 3/4 × 22 3/16 × 1 in.)

Credit Line The John Axelrod Collection—Frank B. Bemis Fund, Charles H. Bayley Fund, and The Heritage Fund for a Diverse Collection

Accession Number2011.1791

NOT ON VIEW

CollectionsAmericas, Prints and Drawings

ClassificationsDrawings

Douglas was one of the leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance. His style is characterized by powerful, elegant silhouettes inspired by his study of Cubism, Art Deco, and African and African American imagery and history. This study draws on that history: ancestral heritage (indicated by the pyramids and sphinx in the background), slavery (the jungle foliage and chained figures), and the triumph of freedom (the broken chains on the largest figure). Rays of light and a church allude to divine intervention, and the trumpeter—who appears often in Douglas’s work—represents the announcement of deliverance and the importance of music in African American culture.

InscriptionsSigned lower right: A. Douglas

ProvenanceGracie C. Jones; by 2001, with Aaron Galleries, Chicago; December 2001, sold by Aaron Galleries to John Axelrod, Boston; 2011, sold by Axelrod to the MFA. (Accession date: June 22, 2011)