A beacon of hope, Aaron Douglas's Aspiration

Summary

The video script celebrates Aaron Douglas' artwork 'Aspiration,' which was commissioned for the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. The painting, part of a four-part mural, portrays African-American history from slavery to aspiration for a future free of racial discrimination. It features elements of ancient Egyptian art, symbolizing African heritage, and highlights figures representing knowledge and African-American achievements. The mural's radiating stars and circles represent the spread of African-American culture, particularly jazz, while also embodying hope and triumph over adversity.

Takeaways

• 🎨 The painting 'Aspiration' by Aaron Douglas is a significant work from the early 20th century, reflecting the African-American perspective on history and culture.
• 📚 Douglas' first major commission was for 'The New Negro', emphasizing the importance of African American artists embracing their African heritage.
• 🗺️ The painting was created for the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936, commemorating Texas' independence from Mexico and highlighting the African-American experience.
• 🤲 'Aspiration' is part of a four-part mural depicting the history of early Texas from an African-American viewpoint, with two panels now lost.
• 🌊 The painting features elements representing the Middle Passage, symbolizing the transatlantic journey of enslaved Africans to America.
• 👑 The figure of 'Mother Egypt' in the painting symbolizes the source of African-Egyptian history and culture, holding an open book as a symbol of knowledge.
• 🌟 The five-pointed stars in the painting could represent both the Lone Star State of Texas and the North Star that guided slaves to freedom.
• 🎶 Douglas believed that jazz was the greatest contribution of African American culture to the world, symbolized by the radiating circles in the painting.
• 🏙️ The figures in the painting look towards a city on the horizon, embodying new ideals of the Harlem Renaissance and aspirations for a future without racial discrimination.
• 👥 The painting includes representations of historical and contemporary African American figures who have made significant contributions to society.
• 🚫 The Hall of Negro Life, where Douglas' murals were displayed, faced skepticism from white visitors, leading to a sign confirming Douglas' authorship as an African American artist.

Q & A

What is the significance of the 'Aspiration' painting by Aaron Douglas?

The 'Aspiration' painting by Aaron Douglas is significant as it represents the African-American perspective on the history of early Texas and the journey from slavery to aspiration and achievement. It was commissioned for the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936 and features elements of African heritage and Egyptian influence.

What was the purpose of The Hall of Negro Life at the Texas Centennial Exposition?

The Hall of Negro Life was created to commemorate Texas' independence from Mexico and to showcase the history and culture of African Americans in Texas, despite the segregation and challenges they faced during that time.

How does the painting 'Aspiration' depict the journey of enslaved Africans?

The painting 'Aspiration' depicts the journey of enslaved Africans through the use of imagery such as hands in bondage and shackles, representing the harsh reality of the Middle Passage, where enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean.

What is the symbolic meaning of the three-tiered plinth in the painting?

The three-tiered plinth in the painting symbolizes the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of Egypt, representing the innovations in architecture and the historical significance of Egyptian culture.

Who is the female figure in the painting 'Aspiration' and what does she represent?

The female figure in the painting 'Aspiration' represents Mother Egypt, symbolizing the font of African-Egyptian history and culture. She holds an open book, symbolizing knowledge, and is associated with royalty and pride for contemporary African Americans.

What is the connection between the figure of Mother Egypt and the Renaissance artwork?

The pose of Mother Egypt holding the open book in 'Aspiration' is derived from Michelangelo's Libyan Sibyl in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, connecting the figure to the Renaissance and the historical figure of Sojourner Truth, a freedom fighter against slavery.

What do the two modern African American figures on the plinth represent?

The two modern African American figures on the plinth represent new ideals of the Harlem Renaissance, embodying educated and aspirational African Americans, possibly symbolizing historical figures like Benjamin Banneker and George Washington Carver.

What is the significance of the five-pointed stars in the painting?

The five-pointed stars in the painting have a dual significance. They represent the Lone Star State of Texas and the celebratory symbol of the dominant white culture during the exposition. For African American viewers, the stars symbolize the North Star that guided slaves to freedom in the North.

How does the painting 'Aspiration' convey a sense of hope and optimism?

The painting conveys a sense of hope and optimism through the figures looking upward and towards the city on the horizon, symbolizing an aspirational future free from racial discrimination and inspired by the achievements of the past.

What was the reaction of white visitors to the murals in The Hall of Negro Life?

The reaction of white visitors to the murals in The Hall of Negro Life was often disbelief, questioning the possibility of an African American artist creating such works. This led to the need for a sign to confirm Aaron Douglas as the artist.

How does the painting 'Aspiration' reflect the contribution of African American culture to the world?

The painting reflects the contribution of African American culture to the world through the radiating circles that symbolize sound waves of jazz music, representing the influence and spread of African American cultural achievements globally.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 Celebrating Texas Centennial and African American Heritage

The first paragraph introduces the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936 and the significant role of Aaron Douglas, an early 20th-century artist, in commemorating African American history and culture through his artwork 'Aspiration'. The painting was commissioned for the exposition's Hall of Negro Life, showcasing the African-American perspective on the history of Texas. The summary highlights the painting's depiction of the Middle Passage and the journey of enslaved Africans, symbolized by upraised hands and waves. It also discusses the representation of Mother Egypt as a symbol of African-Egyptian history and culture, and the inclusion of figures embodying the ideals of the Harlem Renaissance, such as Benjamin Banneker and George Washington Carver, alongside modern African American heroes like Jesse Owens, Paul Robeson, and Joe Louis.

05:02

🌟 Aspiration and Achievement: The Radiance of African American Culture

The second paragraph delves into the symbolism and impact of Douglas' painting 'Aspiration', emphasizing the aspirational message it conveys. It discusses the painting's portrayal of hope and the future, where racial discrimination is absent, especially in the context of the segregated Jim Crow South. The summary touches on the significance of the five-pointed stars pointing towards a city on the horizon, which could symbolize both the Lone Star State and the North Star guiding slaves to freedom. Additionally, it mentions the radiating circles representing the spread of jazz, a significant contribution of African American culture. The paragraph also addresses the challenges faced by the Hall of Negro Life, including skepticism from white visitors about the authorship of the murals, and concludes with a reflection on the optimism and vision of those who created the exposition, imagining a more inclusive America.

Keywords

💡Texas Centennial Exposition

The Texas Centennial Exposition was a significant event held in 1936 to commemorate Texas' independence from Mexico. It is central to the video's theme as it provides the historical context for Aaron Douglas' commissioned work, 'Aspiration,' which was created for the exposition's Hall of Negro Life. The mural depicted the history of early Texas from an African-American perspective, symbolizing the aspirations and struggles of the African-American community.

💡Aaron Douglas

Aaron Douglas was an important early 20th-century artist known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. His first major commission was for 'The New Negro,' and his style was influenced by African heritage and ancient Egyptian art. In the video, Douglas' painting 'Aspiration' is analyzed, showing his contribution to representing African-American history and culture through art.

💡Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, social, and artistic explosion in the 1920s, celebrating African-American life in the United States, particularly in Harlem, New York. The video highlights how artists of this period, including Aaron Douglas, were insistent on embracing African heritage and representing it in their work, which is evident in the themes and styles of 'Aspiration.'

💡Middle Passage

The Middle Passage refers to the segment of the triangular trade route in which enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. In the video, the Middle Passage is depicted in 'Aspiration' through the curvilinear flowing waves, representing the traumatic journey of enslaved Africans and their aspirations for freedom and a better future.

💡Mother Egypt

In the context of the video, 'Mother Egypt' symbolizes the source of African-Egyptian history and culture. The female figure representing Mother Egypt in 'Aspiration' holds an open book, symbolizing knowledge, and is associated with pride and kingship for contemporary African Americans. This figure serves as a connection to the rich heritage that African Americans are encouraged to embrace.

💡Jazz

Jazz is a music genre that originated from African-American communities in the United States and has had a profound impact on world culture. In the video, Aaron Douglas likens the radiating circles in his painting to sound waves of jazz music, spreading African-American culture globally. This represents the significant contribution of African Americans to the arts and the world's cultural landscape.

💡Lone Star State

The Lone Star State is the official nickname of Texas, representing its independent spirit and history. In the video, the five-pointed star is a recurring symbol that could be seen as representing Texas, but also has a deeper meaning for African-American viewers as the North Star that guided slaves to freedom. This duality highlights the complex identity and history within the state.

💡North Star

The North Star, or Polaris, was used by slaves in the United States as a navigational tool to escape to freedom in the North. In the video, the North Star is metaphorically represented by the five-pointed stars in Douglas' painting, symbolizing hope and guidance for African Americans seeking a better life beyond the oppressive conditions of the South.

💡Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth was a prominent African-American abolitionist and women's rights advocate known as the Libyan Sibyl. In the video, the pose of 'Mother Egypt' in Douglas' painting is derived from Michelangelo's 'Libyan Sibyl' in the Sistine Chapel, creating a connection between historical figures who fought for freedom and the aspirations of the African-American community.

💡Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker was an African-American astronomer, mathematician, and early advocate for racial equality. In the video, one of the figures in 'Aspiration' is suggested to represent Banneker, holding tools of his trade, which signifies the intellectual and scientific contributions of African Americans to society.

💡George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver was an African-American agricultural chemist who made significant contributions to the agricultural industry through his work with alternative crops to cotton. In the video, another figure in the mural is suggested to represent Carver, symbolizing the innovation and progress of African Americans in various fields.

Highlights

Aaron Douglas' painting 'Aspiration' was created for the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936, commemorating Texas' independence from Mexico.

The painting depicts the history of early Texas from an African-American perspective, including the Middle Passage and the journey of enslaved Africans.

Douglas was influenced by ancient Egyptian art, incorporating elements such as figure profiles and the influence of African masks.

The painting features hands in bondage and shackles, symbolizing the suffering of enslaved Africans during the Middle Passage.

The three-tiered plinth represents the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of Egypt, symbolizing architectural innovation and knowledge.

The figure of 'Mother Egypt' holds an open book, representing the font of African-Egyptian history and culture.

The painting includes modern African-American figures embodying new ideals of the Harlem Renaissance, such as Benjamin Banneker and George Washington Carver.

The five-pointed star in the painting could symbolize both the Lone Star State of Texas and the North Star that guided slaves to freedom.

Douglas likened the radiating circles in the painting to sound waves, representing the spread of African American culture, particularly jazz, around the world.

The painting conveys a sense of hope and optimism for a future free from racial discrimination.

The Hall of Negro Life, where the painting was displayed, faced skepticism from white visitors who questioned if an African American artist could have created the murals.

The creators of The Hall of Negro Life demonstrated incredible optimism in writing a history and imagining a future for America.

Aaron Douglas' first major commission was for the publication 'The New Negro' by Alain Locke, which emphasized the importance of embracing African heritage.

The painting 'Aspiration' is one of four murals depicting the history of early Texas from an African-American perspective, with two panels now lost.

The upraised arms in the painting symbolize enslaved Africans reaching upward for salvation amidst the harsh conditions of the Middle Passage.

The figure of Mother Egypt introduces imagery of kingship and pride for contemporary African Americans, with her purple color and traditional Egyptian hair wig.

The pose of Mother Egypt holding the open book is derived from Michelangelo's Libyan Sibyl, connecting to Sojourner Truth, a freedom fighter against slavery.

Transcripts

(uplifting classical music)

- My friends of Texas.

I have come here today to bear the tribute of the nation

to you on your hundredth birthday,

oh, you are 100 years young.

And what a birthday party.

A huge $25 million exhibition in Dallas

with all Texans staying home.

- [Female Narrator] We're in the photo studio

at the de Young Museum, part of the Fine Arts

Museums in San Francisco, and we're looking

at a painting by an important early 20th century artist,

Aaron Douglas called Aspiration.

- [Male Narrator] Aaron Douglas' first major commission

was for the iconic publication, The New Negro

An Interpretation by Alain Locke.

In those illustrations, he takes

a Alain Locke's lead that African American artists

should embrace their African heritage.

Historically, Europeans had claimed

the history of Africa in general, but especially Egypt

as the bed rock of European culture.

Douglas and the other artists associated

with the Harlem Renaissance were insistent

that African Americans embrace this culture

as their history.

- [Female Narrator] And we do see the influence

of ancient Egyptian art here in the profiles

of the figures, in the way that their shoulders

are turned frontally, and even the influence

of African masks.

But this painting had a very specific purpose,

it was commissioned for the Texas Centennial Exposition

of 1936 that commemorated Texas' independence from Mexico.

And for the hall of negro life that,

despite many obstacles, was created for that Exposition.

- [Male Narrator] Aspiration was one

of a four-part mural depicting the history

of early Texas, but very importantly from

an African-American perspective.

Two of the panels are lost, but the other extant panel

shows Africans being taken into slavery

to a ship that will then cross the Atlantic

in the Middle Passage.

Aspiration is the other part of this story

here on the American side of the Atlantic.

- [Female Narrator] We see hands in bondage,

we see the shackles of slavery around

the wrists of these upraised hands.

- [Male Narrator] And they are surrounded

by these curvilinear flowing waves,

this represents the Middle Passage

of ships across the Atlantic Ocean carrying

their human cargo of enslaved Africans.

Historians often point out if someone

on these ships became ill, they were often

thrown overboard because the slave traders

didn't want to endanger the rest of their human cargo.

And so you see these arms upraised

as if they are sinking beneath the waves,

reaching upward for some kind of salvation.

- [Female Narrator] As we move up,

we see three figures on a podium pointing

to a city on the horizon.

- [Male Narrator] The three-tiered plinth

symbolizes the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of Egypt.

Egypt was famous for its innovations

in architecture, most famously the pyramids.

- [Female Narrator] And we see those pyramids here

in the fractured forms between

the five-pointed star.

And one female figure sits on the corner of that podium

holding a book in her right hand,

leaning back, and looking up toward the city.

Her face, her body intersects that star.

- [Male Narrator] This female figure

for Douglas I think represents Mother Egypt.

She is the font of African-Egyptian history and culture.

She holds the open books, the symbol of knowledge.

And notice that the waves of the Middle Passage wash across

her feet just as the Nile River when it floods

every spring washes across the temples along its shores.

Her hair wig is a very typical symbol

of that Egyptian culture, as is her purple color,

which is a royal color.

So this introduces imagery of kingship,

a symbol of pride for contemporary African Americans.

The pose of Mother Egypt holding

the open book is derived from a Renaissance source,

Michelangelo's Libyan Sibyl in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Sojourner Truth, one of the great freedom fighters

against slavery was known as the Libyan Sibyl.

The two modern African Americans on the plinth

embody new ideals of the Harlem Renaissance.

The figure holding the right-angle square,

the compass and adjacent to the terrestrial

or celestial globe might be Benjamin Banneker,

a famous astronomer and mathematician.

The man holding the beaker in the center

might be George Washington Carver

who was an agricultural chemist.

But there are other associations for these two modern men

who embodied the educated new negro.

There are three famous figures who might indeed

have appeared upon a plinth or podium at this time.

Among them are Jesse Owens, the American olympian,

Paul Robeson, the actor and singer,

and Joe Louis, the champion boxer.

Three real-life African American heroes

who set an example for the rest of society

of the kind of aspiration and achievement

embodied in Douglas' painting.

- [Female Narrator] And that idea

of being uplifted, of imagining a future

where racial discrimination is no more.

It must've been difficult to imagine

in the segregated Jim Crow South of Texas.

But still, this sense of hope

as the figures look up toward the upper-right corner

of the composition.

- [Male Narrator] Viewers always notice

that the glowing five-pointed stars point

to the city on the hill in the distance.

The star could be seen as the Lone Star State, Texas,

and the star was all over the fairgrounds

in Dallas as a celebratory symbol

of the dominant white culture.

On the other hand, for an African American viewer,

they would've seen that star as the North Star

that led slaves out of slavery in the Deep South

to freedom in the North.

And not only do the stars radiate from Egypt,

but also circles and Douglas felt

the greatest contribution of African American culture

to the world was jazz.

And he likened the radiating circles

to sound waves spreading African American culture

around the world.

- [Female Narrator] On the opposite corner,

a threat looms, we see lightning,

we see clouds, and a darkness that the figures

turn away from.

- [Male Narrator] Douglas' glowing and radiating stars

seem to dispel the darkness.

It's not an easy path, but it is possible

to triumph and transcend the evils

of the past, but also draw, nurture

from the great accomplishments of the past.

When visitor entered the lobby of The Hall

of Negro Life and cast their gaze

upon Aaron Douglas' four extraordinary murals,

white visitors, the few that dared to enter

The Hall of Negro Life, the segregated building

on the periphery of the main fairgrounds

often challenged the attendant at the front desk,

claiming that it was not possible

that an African American artist

could've created these murals.

These queries were so numerous,

they actually had to post a sign stating

these murals were painted by Mr. Aaron Douglas

of New York, an African American artist.

- [Female Narrator] I'm struck by the incredible

optimism of the people who put together

The Hall of Negro Life, writing a history

to be able to imagine a future in America.

(uplifting classical music)