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Aspiration by Aaron Douglas (1936)

Aspiration by Aaron Douglas

After I conducted a little research on Aaron Douglas I found that he was an African American painter and graphic artist. He played a major role in Harlem Renaissance, which is considered the “blossoming of African American culture”, specifically in the creative arts. It was the most influential movement in African American literary history. Now that I have some background on the painter and the events that we’re going on when it was created, I think this painting conveys African culture and history. The figure of the woman sitting down looks sort of like she’s Egyptian which I think means there is some sort of linkage between Egyptian and African culture. I notice there are arms with chains on them which represents the African slaves. It’s quite interesting on how it shows the slaves on the bottom of the painting and then two men in the middle painting to something that looks likely the city, as if they’re pointing to freedom. It’s like a story of Africans overcoming slavery and finally having freedom. I think the title puts it all together considering it means hope and ambition. Overall I really like this painting and the meaning behind it, it gives a very hopeful feeling.

https://deyoung.famsf.org/deyoung/collections/multimedia/collection-icons-aspiration-aaron-douglas

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biography.com/.amp/people/aaron-douglas-39794

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