The Studio Journal
Harlem Renaissance
Jazz, silhouettes, and a decade that changed American art. The painters and sculptors of 1920s Harlem, and how to live with their legacy.
Art of the Harlem Renaissance: A Painter's Guide
Robert Lawrence walks through the painters, the music, and the visual language of the Harlem Renaissance, and how it shows up in his own jazz-era canvas prints.
Read the Guide
Harlem Renaissance Artists: 10 Pioneers Who Changed Art
Discover the groundbreaking Harlem Renaissance artists who transformed Black culture through art. Explore the pioneers who changed the creative lan...
Artwork from the Harlem Renaissance: Beyond the Canvas
Discover how the artwork from the Harlem Renaissance transformed cultural spaces, blending music and visual art in groundbreaking ways.
Harlem Renaissance Painting: Art as Cultural Defiance
Discover how Harlem Renaissance painting challenged racial norms. Explore the powerful art that transformed culture through defiance and dignity.
Harlem Renaissance Art and the Jazz Improvisation Parallel
How Harlem Renaissance art mirrors jazz improvisation in rhythm, repetition, and risk. The visual movement that paralleled the music of its time.
Augusta Savage Made One Masterpiece They Bulldozed and a Generation They Couldn't
Augusta Savage built a 16-foot sculpture for the 1939 World's Fair. It was demolished. What survived was a generation of Black artists.
Sixty Panels, One Great Migration: Why Jacob Lawrence Still Owns the Wall
How Jacob Lawrence's 60-panel Migration Series still shapes how we hang Black art at home, from the 1942 museum split to modern sequence walls.
Archibald Motley Painted the Party: Nightlife, Jazz, and the Chicago Renaissance
Archibald Motley chronicled Black nightlife in Chicago for decades. Here's what's verified about his career, his 1928 breakthrough, and Nightlife.
Before Instagram, There Was Van Der Zee's Studio
Long before social feeds, James Van Der Zee's Harlem studio was where the neighborhood gathered to be seen. Here's what that meant.
One Anthology, One Movement: Alain Locke's The New Negro at 100
In 1925, Alain Locke's anthology The New Negro gave the Harlem Renaissance its intellectual spine. A century later, its idea still shapes what we h...
Aaron Douglas Painted Black History in Silhouette. You Can Still See It for Free.
Aaron Douglas turned Black history into flat, glowing silhouettes. Meet the Harlem Renaissance painter and the free NYPL mural you can visit today.
Richmond Barthé: Turned Away From Art School, Collected by the Whitney
Richmond Barthé was barred from art school for being Black. Nine years later, the Whitney collected his sculpture first. Here's the story.
The Journal, monthly.
One email a month: new essays, new work on the easel, and first look at new pieces. No noise.
Reading about the Renaissance? 7 pieces hang in the salon.
Jazz age works on museum-grade canvas, each hung one at a time on a charcoal wall. The room is open.
Walk the Harlem Salon