Miguel+Covarrubias+and+Other+Artists

This site is really cool. It looks like a scrapbook-style compilation of facts, history, and art of the Harlem Renaissance. “The Harlem Renaissance was not just about music. It also represented different types of art like dance and visual arts. It’s message mainly came through literature and poetry.”

“Harlem at Night” This drawing shows a variety of activities happening in a typical night in the Harlem Renaissance.
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During the Harlem Renaissance, African American culture flourished in its attempt to disconnect itself with the culture of their oppressors. As some of the paintings found at the link illustrate, many of the different genres of art reflect and often influence each other. For example, music and visual art are seen paired in many paintings during the Harlem Renaissance that depict scenes of jazz and dancing. Link
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@http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/a/african_american_4.html Costume design for Josephine Baker during the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was not confined to Harlem or even the USA. This flourishing of black artistic talent was originally called the Negro Renaissance.
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I think this website is very interesting, because it shows work that Covarrubias did that was not artwork for arts sake, but advertisement for companies like Dole and DeBeers, as well as work for magazines like Vogue, and Vanity Fair.

Caricature of Senator Smith W. Brookhart & Marlene Deitrich
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There are a number of caricatures hereand it is interesting to see that more often than not there are two different people portrayed, and as this portrait shows clearly, often they are two very opposite figures.

Jacon Lawrence- "Migration Series": Depicted the mass migration of blacks from the South to the North (and California) after the Civil War. There are 60 paintings in the series that constitute a narrative of the migration. You can view the entire series, in order with pertinent captions here. This photo is titled "There were lynchings" and I thought it was just incredibly moving. It is from the first part of the series that depicts life in the South and I feel it speaks to the enduring legacy that blacks in the South had to confront if they chose to stay.
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This is one of the last in the series #58/60 and it also really moved me. It is depicting the children who have migrated North and now have access to education that their parents were denied. I love the imagery here because there is something triumphant in the posture of the children, it looks as if they are brandishing the letters overhead, almost like weapons.
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This painting is by the artist Romare Bearden and is titled "Jammin' at the Savoy". It reminded me of the music we listened to in class, and is a clear contrast to the black and white pictures in the book.
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Jacob Lawrence Harlem Series, 1942-43. You can buy bootleg whiskey for twenty-five cents a quart

This image is by Aaron Douglas, is called //Into Bondage//, Painted in 1936, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 inches. Douglas, born in 1899, started out illustrating magazines in Harlem. He studied in Paris and at the University of Nebraska, and went on to found the art department at Fisk University in Nashville. Silhouetted figures like the one in the painting above are typical of Douglas's work.
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The work that I found of Miguel Covarrubias’ is strikingly different from the illustrations he did for Zora Neale Hurston’s //Mules and Men.// His work is very colorful and keen to detail, and it’s scope ranges from politically driven propaganda art and social and culutural commentary or criticism to campaign adds and editorial art. This site contains the following works of art and many more: [] -Container Corporation of America (1945) Covarrubias-
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-McCall's, "Miguel Covarrubias' Mexico" (1947) Covarrubias-
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-Collier's, "Lest We Forget" (1950) Covarrubias-
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-Carmen Jones (1944) Covarrubias-
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-Vogue (1938) Covarrubias-
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I found //The Lindy Hop// by Miguel Covarrubias on Michele Roohani's blog about a Jazz art exhibition in Paris at the Quai Branly Museum. It's definitely worth checking out: http://micheleroohani.com/blog/2009/04/13/the-art-of-jazz/
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Going through the Harlem Renaissance art was cool. There were several repeating themes. "People coming together, festivities, city streets (with people), music and dancing." The art seems to a illustration of the celebration of culture. A new found culture...while recalling heritage. It seems to be that way. However, music and or forms of expression seems to be in exaggeration. A re-articulation with those mediums are being celebrated, and the art highlights it with direction flow, bright / vibrant colors that scream self-expression through community. However, looking at the artist [|Aaron Douglas] illustrates a more serious and compelling perspective of life during the Harlem Renaissance. He illustrates the African American life that was still working, chained, building cities, and in some despair while trying to find their place in this "rebirth." Some of his paintings illustrate figures working, singing / playing instruments, and in deep thought... in modern settings and more historical African heritage.
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In searching for artwork by Miguel Covarrubius, I came across some artwork by one of his students Al Hirschfield who also did caricature-style artwork. [] It is clear to see the influence of Covarrubius’ work on the style of Hirschfield. Hirschfield did a variety of work for movie production companies, etching, and various other forms. He was most interested in studying people.



This painting is called The Banjo Lesson by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937). This painting caught my eye because it does not look like what I imagine when I think of the Harlem Renaissance. It looks like an homage to the past. The older man, perhaps grandfather, is teaching his musical skills to his grandson. He is passing his skills to the Harlem Renaissance.
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This image was designed by Miguel Covarrubius for the Langston Hughes book __The Weary Blues__. I thought it was a really interesting picture given the way the person's features aren't defined by anything more than a red line, yet the image is clear. I think it is also interesting that Miguel designed book covers for both Hughes and Hurston, the supposed Father and Mother of this time period, of renaissance literature. There appears to be a gaslamp in the upper right hand corner, however the light that shines off of it looks more like the sun, and the person playing the piano seems to have their eyes closed, face uplifted towards the sun.

This piece by Miguel Covarrubias is named Rumba.