Art Lecture with Thomas Germano - The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism

As part of the Library's celebration of Black History Month, Professor Thomas Germano will present a visual lecture about the 'Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism' exhibition on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (February 25-July 28, 2024).  This new exhibit will present a survey of multi-media works by Black artists who portrayed everyday modern life in the new cities that took shape in the 1920s–40s in New York City’s Harlem and nationwide in the early decades of the Great Migration when millions of African Americans began to move away from the segregated rural South. The Harlem Renaissance and its modern Black subject was central to the development of international modern art.

Featured artists include Charles Alston, Aaron Douglas, Archibald Motley, Augusta Savage, James Van Der Zee, among others. These artists will be shown alongside portrayals of international African diasporan subjects by European counterparts ranging from Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch, and Pablo Picasso and Jacob Epstein.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a 'hybrid' event that can be attended either "In-Person" or "Online" on the Zoom platform. You can choose which option you wish to register for below in the "Do you want to attend in-person or online?" dropdown menu below.