Before we get to today's poem, please be sure and visit Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference to see how our Progressive Poem is progressing!
Today I'm continuing my Harlem Renaissance poetry project with a look at painter William Johnson! Here is a quote I found in the book HARLEM STOMP by Laban Carrick Hill:
“My aim is to express in a natural
way
what I feel both rhythmically and
spiritually,
al that has been saved up in my family
of primitiveness and tradition. –
William H. Johnson
Also from HARLEM STOMP:
“his work contained the Expressionist
quality of broad, emotional paint strokes and bright colors that was
very much informed by his exposure yo European Modernism. Many African American critics, however, were put off by his work because he seemed to them to be reinforcing cultural stereotypes of the ignorant,
unskilled Negro rather than the cultured 'New Negro' they were so
committed to promoting.”
Turns out that Johnson's earliest works were mostly landscapes. After traveling to Europe, Scandinavia, and North Africa during the 1930s, Johnson came back to the States with a Danish wife and a new commitment to featuring African American subjects in a simpler, folk art style. We'll stick with Johnson for the rest of the week!
Here are the poems in the series so far:
"To a Water Boy" after The Water Boy by Meta Warrick Fuller
"Storytime" after Storytime by Meta Warrick Fuller
"Sorrow" after Sorrow by Meta Warrick Fuller
"Storytime" after Storytime by Meta Warrick Fuller
"Sorrow" after Sorrow by Meta Warrick Fuller
"My John Henry" after When John Henry Was a Baby by Palmer Hayden
"Night Music" after Untitled by Palmer Hayden
"A (Sub)way of Looking" after The Subway, 1930 by Palmer Hayden
"Girl to Mama" after Madonna at the Stoop by Palmer Hayden
"For Love of the Game" after Checkers Game by Palmer Hayden
"The Birthday Birds of Bonaventure Island" after Birds of Isle de Bonaventure by Palmer Hayden
"Boat Dock, Early Evening" after Boats at the Dock by Palmer Hayden
"Prayer for the Berry Pickers" after Berry Pickers by Palmer Hayden
"Sometimes Books Are the Only Playground I Need" after Among Them is a Girl Reading by Palmer Hayden
"Measurements" after Octoroon Girl by Archibald Motley
"Barbeque" after Barbecue by Archibald Motley
"American Idyll, 1934" after An Idyll of the Deep South by Aaron Douglas
"The Toiler" after The Toiler by Aaron Douglas
"Let There Be Poetry" after The Creation by Aaron Douglas
"Boy with Plane" after Boy with Plane by Aaron Douglas
"To a Dancer" after Sahdji (Tribal Women) by Aaron Douglas
"For the Builders" after Building More Stately Mansions by Aaron Douglas
"This Poem is a Dream" after Aspiration by Aaron Douglas
Today's piece is called Art Class - Three Men. I like the easy camaraderie I see in this piece,,, it reminds me of writing with friends! Here's where I landed:
Trio
they
gather
with
easels, brushes
to
paint themselves
to
another life:
one
sweeps canvas
with
a conductor's
broad
strokes,
another
tends
to
tiniest details
with
a surgeon's precision
the
third
pauses
a moment,
giving his
imagination
ample
time
to
reach muscles –
together
a
symphony
of
color,
form
fellowship.
- Irene Latham
Beautiful Irene, love this line, "to paint themselves
ReplyDeleteto another life:" I often think about music with art so I like your "symphony
of color,
form"
Rich painting they both (your poem and painting) are singing the same song, thanks!
All together making art, all separate, being themselves and content with that. I love the way you celebrated the different aspects of how differences can form "fellowship".
ReplyDelete"giving his imagination
ReplyDeleteample time
to reach muscles"
Isn't that the truth of it?!?!