Aaron Douglas
Study for “Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction”
1933
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Aaron Douglas
Study for “Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction”
1933
Physical Qualities
Opaque watercolor over graphite on paper mounted on board, Framed: 28 × 39 in. (71.1 × 99.1 cm.)
Sheet: 515 x 760 mm. (20 1/4 x 29 15/16 in.)
Image: 280 x 660 mm. (11 x 26 in.)
Credit Line
Purchase with exchange funds from the Edward Joseph Gallagher III Memorial Collection
Object Number
2004.179
Study for the third of the four paintings in the mural cycle entitled " Aspects of Negro Life: From Slavery Through Reconstruction" commissioned in 1934 by the Public Works of Art Project for the 135th Street Branch of The New York Public Library (now The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture).
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 2004; Steven Jones, Philadelphia, acquired from estate of Stephanie E. Pogue, Hyattsville, Maryland, 2004; acquired from the artist, c. 1975.
Carl Van Vecthen Gallery, Fisk University, Aaron Douglas Retrospective, March 21- April 15, 1971.
David C. Driskell, Bellevue Art Museum, Washington, "Hidden Heritage: Afro-American Art 1800-1950", Sept. 14- Nov. 10, 1985, exh cat. figure 25, page 48; circulated by and The Art Museum Association of America to The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Jan. 14-March 10, 1986, California Afro-American Museum, April 7- June 2, 1986, Wadsworth Atheneum, July 4- Aug. 31, 1986, The Mint Museum of Art, Sept. 22- Nov. 17, 1986, San Antonio Museum of Art, Dec. 15, 1986- Feb. 9, 1987, The Toledo Museum of Art, March 8- May 3, 1987, The Baltimore Museum of Art, June 1-July 27, 1987, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Aug. 23-Oct. 18, 1987, Oklahoma Museum of Art, Nov. 15, 1987-Jan. 10. 1988.
James Smalls, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Henry Ossawa Tanner and his Influence in America," June 7, 2006 - December 3, 2006.
Susan Earle, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, "Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist," 8 September - 2 December 2007;circulated to Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, 18 January - 13 April 2008; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, 9 May - 3 August 2008; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NY, 30 August - 30 November 2008, pl. 3, p. 8 (Spencer and Smithsonian venues only).
BMA rotation, American Wing, September 6, 2016 - December 4, 2016.
David C. Driskell, Bellevue Art Museum, Washington, "Hidden Heritage: Afro-American Art 1800-1950", Sept. 14- Nov. 10, 1985, exh cat. figure 25, page 48; circulated by and The Art Museum Association of America to The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Jan. 14-March 10, 1986, California Afro-American Museum, April 7- June 2, 1986, Wadsworth Atheneum, July 4- Aug. 31, 1986, The Mint Museum of Art, Sept. 22- Nov. 17, 1986, San Antonio Museum of Art, Dec. 15, 1986- Feb. 9, 1987, The Toledo Museum of Art, March 8- May 3, 1987, The Baltimore Museum of Art, June 1-July 27, 1987, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Aug. 23-Oct. 18, 1987, Oklahoma Museum of Art, Nov. 15, 1987-Jan. 10. 1988.
James Smalls, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Henry Ossawa Tanner and his Influence in America," June 7, 2006 - December 3, 2006.
Susan Earle, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, "Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist," 8 September - 2 December 2007;circulated to Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, 18 January - 13 April 2008; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, 9 May - 3 August 2008; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NY, 30 August - 30 November 2008, pl. 3, p. 8 (Spencer and Smithsonian venues only).
BMA rotation, American Wing, September 6, 2016 - December 4, 2016.
David C. Driskell. Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America, New York: The Studio Museum in Harlem and Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1987, illust. plate 5, page 18.
Susan Earle, "Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist,"
Inscribed: lower right in graphite: "A. Douglas" On label affixed to recto, lower center: "Harriet Tubman"; printed on verso, left and right center: "Bainbridge Illustration Board Number 80 . . . "; stamped on verso, left and right center: "Artists Materials/Joseph Torch/wholesale retail . . . " Inscribed in graphite: "Working sketch for Harriet Tubman Mural (Oil)/at Bennett College/Greensborough, N.C."
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