Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Houston, TX
(713) 639-7300
Rhapsodies in Black: Art of the Harlem Renaissance
November 22, 1998 - February 14, 1999
Caroline Wiess Law Building
Long regarded by scholars as a key
period of African-American art history, the Harlem Renaissance remains one
of the most fascinating periods of twentieth-century culture. The migration
of black families from the rural south to the urban north, the subsequent
concentration of African-American artists in New York City, and the unique
exchanges between the African-American, Anglo American, and European cultural
communities are some of the defining characteristics of this unique cultural
era.
It is this artistic and social exchange between distinct
communities as well as the expression of the visual arts, music, dance,
film, and graphics through the African Diaspora that distinguishes this
exhibition. The exhibition is co-curated by Dr. Richard J. Powell, Duke
University, and David A. Bailey, University of East London. Rhapsodies
in Black is organized by the Hayward Gallery in London, in collaboration
with the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the Institute of
International Visual Arts, London. Rhapsodies in Black is curated
locally by Dr. Alvia J. Wardiaw, curator of twentieth-century art at the
MFAH.
Top to bottom: Aaron Douglas, Aspiration, 1936,
oil on canvas, 152.4 x 152.6 cm, The Fine Arts Museumof San Francisco, Museum
purchase; Winold Reiss, Harlem Girl I, c. 1925, pencil, charcoal
and pastels on heavy illustration board, 55.5 x 37.8 cm, Museum of Art and
Archaeology, University of Missouri, Columbia, gift of Mr. W. Tjark Reiss.
rev. 11/26/10
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