Art Analysis: Aaron Douglas

                This is an art piece named Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction painted by artist Aaron Douglas, a black painter who lived during the Harlem Renaissance. The piece shows the course of black history.
                 As you see, the left of the painting shows silhouettes of black people with drums and some kind of crop growing in the background showing the time before slavery. Moving a little to the right we see people hunched over which represents opression and slavery. Next, the man standing up pointing shows to desire to fight against slavery, and to the right of him you can see people with their fists up ready to fight. The far end of the painting exhibits a man playing a trumpet and a woman dancing reflecting the events of the Harlem Renaissance where blacks had a chance to express themselves in several artistic ways.
                  Several HR themes are expressed in this painting. One of these themes is the "exploration of Negro heritage" because the painting from left to right shows the course of black history; from being in Africa to the explosion of art in the Harlem Renaissance. Another theme used is "determination to fight against opression." The center of the painting shows a man pointing and people with fists clenched. This shows the struggle against slavery. "Pride" is a more subtle theme in this piece of art. The painting wants black people to feel a sense of pride that they endured so much and acomplished a lot.
                    I like this piece because of all the cool colors. It gives a very refreshing appeal to it due to the lack of harsh colors, and the overall painting looks soft. The silhouettes work really well with the color palette which otherwise wouldn't work if the people were really detailed. I like the "glowing" areas because it really draws your eyes into it.