In paintings, murals, and book illustrations, Aaron Douglas (1899–1979) produced the most powerful visual legacy of the Harlem Renaissance, prompting the philosopher and writer Alain Locke to dub him the “father of Black American art.” Working from a politicized concept of personal identity and a utopian vision of the future, the artist made a lasting impact on American art history and on the nation’s cultural heritage. Douglas’s role, as well as that of the Harlem Renaissance in general, in the evolution of American modernism deserves close scholarly attention, which it finally receives in this beautifully illustrated book.

Susan Earle is curator of European and American Art at the Spencer Museum of Art. Renée Ater is an assistant professor at the University of Maryland. Kinshasha Holman Conwill is deputy director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution. David C. Driskell, a practicing artist and scholar, is retired as Distinguished Professor of Art at the University of Maryland. Amy Helene Kirschke is associate professor of art history at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Stephanie Fox Knappe is a doctoral candidate in the history of art at the University of Kansas. Richard J. Powell is John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art and Art History at Duke University. Cheryl R. Ragar is visiting instructor in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri.