Aaron Douglas

The leading painter of the Harlem Renaissance, Douglas based this painting on an illustration he made for God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (1927), a book by noted author and civil rights advocate James Weldon Johnson. Its subject tells the story of a winged angel of death who races through the heavens on horseback to rescue a woman from a life of suffering.

Aaron Douglas and the Harlem Renaissance. Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS (organizer) (September 8-December 2, 2007); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (January 19-April 13, 2008); National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC (May 9-August 3, 2008); Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY (August 30-November 30, 2008).

Aaron Douglas and the Harlem Renaissance

The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York, NY (April 7-August 20, 2017); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 30, 2017-January 14, 2018).

The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s

Two Centuries of Black American Art. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (September 30-November 21, 1976); High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (January 8-February 20, 1977); Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX (March 30-May 15, 1977); The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY(June 25-August 21, 1977).

Hidden Heritage: Afro-American Art, 1800-1950. Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA (September 14-November 10, 1985); Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Bronx, NY (January 14-March 10, 1986); California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles, CA (April 7-June 2, 1986); Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT (July 4-August 31, 1986); Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC (September 22-November 17, 1986); San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX (December 15, 1986-February 9, 1987); Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (March 8-May 3, 1987).

Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America. Studio Museum in Harlem, Harlem, NY (February 12-August 30, 1987); Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (April 7-June 5, 1988); High Museum of Art, Alanta, GA (June 28-September 4, 1988); Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, ME (September 24-November 20, 1988); Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, University of Texas, Austin, TX (January 14-February 26, 1989); Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts (March 27-May 21, 1989); Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, TN (June 17-August 6, 1989); New York State Museum, Albany, NY (August 29-October 29, 1989).

Narratives of African American Art and Identity: The Davide C. Driskill Collection. The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD (October 22- December 19, 1998); African American Museum, Dallas, TX (March 13- June 19, 1999); Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME (July 21- October 17, 1999); The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (November 20, 1999- February 12, 2000); The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (June 20- September 10, 2000); Newark Museum, Newark, NJ (October 25, 2000- February 25, 2001); Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH (March 17- May 14, 2001); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (July 8- September 30, 2001); Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL (October 15, 2001- January 13, 2002), FL; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC (April 23-October 25, 2002).

Oil painting fractured with geometric shapes in muted pastel pinks, purples, and blues with a central silhouette in purple of a winged figure riding a horse. The horse dives down, legs extending through the air, a star just over its head and a wavy, cream strip extending from their nose and trailing behind them. The winged figure riding the horse braces themself with one hand on the horse's mane and the other on its hind.

Dr. and Mrs. David C. Driskell, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

This painting was based on an illustration that Douglas created for a book of poems by James Weldon Johnson titled God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse.

God's Trombones

In the poem, “Go Down Death: A Funeral Sermon,” by James Weldon Johnson Death is sent to earth to release a woman named Sister Caroline from the burdens of suffering “And God said: Go down, Death, go down /Go down to Savannah, Georgia /Down in Yamacraw /And find Sister Caroline.”

Go Down Death

Douglas created illustrations for a number of books, including works by Countee Cullen and Alain Locke. His illustrations also appeared in magazines such as Vanity Fair, Harper’s, and Opportunity.

Go Down Death

Aaron Douglas

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Go Down Death

Aaron Douglas

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Winged Figure on Horseback

God's Trombones

Aaron Douglas

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Go Down Death

Aaron Douglas

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Did You Know?

Description

Go Down Death

Aaron Douglas

See Also

Videos

Winged Figure on Horseback

God's Trombones

Aaron Douglas

Textured Surface

Visually Similar by AI

Contact us