Harlem Jazz Legacy: Aaron Douglas’s Musical Tribute

1. Aspects of Negro Life: Song of the Towers, Aaron Douglas, 1934

2. Aaron Douglas Aaron Douglas was born in Topeka, Kansas on May 26,1899. He grew up in a thriving black community. His mother encouraged him to become an artist. In 1917 he attended the university of Nebraska. He graduated in 1922 with a BA in Fine arts.

3. . In his later years Douglas started teaching. He taught at Lincoln High school for two years. Douglas and his wife later moved to France where he met his idol Henry Ossawa Tanner. He returned to the U.S. in 1928 where he became the first president of the Harlem Artist Guild.

4. In 1930 he made a mural for the university of Fisk where he taught there between the years of 1939-1966. He was later known as the Father of African American Art. He died in 1979 in Nashville Tennesse.

6. Aspects of Negro Life: songs of the Towers Analysis Aspects of Negro Life: songs of the Towers represents jazz which was a major part of African American lives. In the painting there is a person playing the saxophone which represents the type of music African Americans played jazz.

7. Historical content • During this time African Americans were trying to escape discrimination and they fought for their rights. • Douglas used his artwork to express the way he felt bout African Americans and helped fight as an activist for African American rights

8. Significance • This piece of artwork is significant to the world because it shows how African American lived and how they spent their days.