Harlem Renaissance

Movement in US arts and literature in the 1920s that used African-American life and culture as its subject matter. The centre of the movement was the Harlem section of New York City, where aspects of African-American culture, including jazz, flourished from the early 20th century, and attracted a new white audience.

The magazine Crisis, edited by W E B DuBois, was a forum for the new black consciousness. Painter and muralist Aaron Douglas, who was discovered and encouraged to portray African-American themes and culture by DuBois, became the leading visual artist. Other popular artists included William H Johnson and Palmer Hayden. Writers associated with the movement include Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, and Countee Cullen (1903–1946). This huge cultural renaissance also had a profound affect on music and theatre.

Later artists such as Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence were inspired by the Harlem Renaissance to depict subject matter concerned with African-American life, feelings, and racial pride.