The Harlem Renaissance was a revolutionary time in the art world for African Americans, many works were considered “lowdown” (lower class) and “guttbucket” and created an extremely great barrier to entry for African Americans to become prominent on such an immense social scene. This change of social stigma, creating a upperclass well to do scene was facilitated by many artists of the era including the painter Hayden Palmer, cornet player Louie Armstrong, and pianist Scott Joplin.
Juenesse
Hayden Palmer
Location Unknown, 1927
Palmer’s piece Juenesse (translated in French to “youthfulness”) exemplifies a new stage for African Americans within the social and dance scene with music provided by other Harlem Renaissance artists. The couple takes the center of the room while others cling close together on the sides, perhaps portraying the newfound confidence and courage to be seen. African American musicians are pictured on the far left, providing the upbeat jazz that the couple swings to, with graceful images of dancers across the ceiling. Palmer was an intentional Harlem Renaissance painter, as his earlier works were primarily seascapes and landscapes, but as the revival took hold, so did he. His works were recounted as being more modernistic … more decorative, high-keyed and in broken color.”
Weather Bird
Louie Armstrong
New York, 1928
Louie Armstrong was a revolutionists as he brought class and etiquette to a music scene unpopularized by social reformers, that of New Orleans “hot jazz”. Armstrong was not classically trained until late on his career when he was trying to refine his image to greater degree and followed the grooming of his second wife Lillian Hardin. His piece Weather Bird combines the higher class training of his cornet skills, melodious piano, and with a strong jazz rhythm to drive.
Maple Leaf Rag
Scott Joplin
Sedalla Missouri, 1899
Apart from the obvious jazz tunes of the Harlem Renaissance, ragtime also made a premiere for a very short time, being led by the “King of Ragtime”, Scott Joplin. Joplin’s ragtime pieces have been recomposed by many artists, and even though there are recordings that state they are true recordings of Joplin performing, they are not. There are no audio recordings of Joplin performing any of his pieces, except for the 7 piano rolls composed before his death. Maple Leaf Rag is noted for its seemingly playful flailing that maintains a constant upbeat tempo and pace with the style of ragtime music. Joplin was thought to bring a more “classical” style to ragtime of the era, “lift[ing] ragtime from its low estate and lined it up with Beethoven and Bach”. This is characteristic of the Harlem Renaissance in its revival of many art forms secularized by African Americans and the reutilization that brought them onto the public scene.
I enjoy many of the pieces of artwork and music produced by the Harlem Renaissance, including the one’s I discussed. The style of that era was very expressive, artwork utilized bright colors, music like jazz chose improv and stylized playing, all of which create a dynamic flow of enjoyment in my opinion. There was seemingly no structured beginning or end to the artwork, but rather the flow of the moments as you get lost in the music.
Routledge, 2004. http://cw.routledge.com/ref/harlem/armstrong.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_Leaf_Rag. 2015. Web.
http://www.welcometoharlem.com/scott_joplin. 2015. Web.
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/4283/Hayden-Palmer-1890-1973.html. 2015. Web.
so much depends 
I really enjoyed that you focused on the Harlem Renaissance in your blog. It is really refreshing and so much more uplifting than the devastation of the First World War and the Depression. It’s really amazing that the African American culture at the time was able to create its unique artistic movement and become incredibly influential. The Hayden Palmer’s painting Juenesse is such a fun active piece. You can really feel the movement in the figures, especially as the woman spins. With everyone else on the edges on the dance floor and these two main figures dancing directly in front of the band, I can almost imagine myself there with the loud jazz music and the fast paced dancing. I think the dancers painted on the wall/ceiling also really help convey a whimsical, lighthearted feeling.
It’s also really interesting to learn that there are no genuine recordings of Scott Joplin playing his ragtime pieces. To me ragtime is such a unique style and Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag is definitely my favorite. It is amazing he was able to completely change the perception of the Ragtime style to something that was considered on par with such renowned composers like Beethoven and Bach! I knew Joplin had a huge impact on ragtime, but I wasn’t aware of how important his role really was.
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I love that you used actual pieces of music on your post! Also, I kind of chose the Harlem renaissance to write about. My post was more focused on the influence generally of African Americans on the art movement of the time, but more specifically the impact of Jacob Lawrence. He is the only reason I did not choose music as my subject. I have been in love with his work since middle school and could not pass up the chance to write about him.
Jazz and ragtime are such wonderful genres that just put me in a kind of happily content but dancing kind of mood. I think that the African Americans that wrote this kind of music had finally come to a point in their history where they could really share their talents and were more content with their situation.
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