Head of Boy (Portrait of Langston Hughes)

In 1925, Aaron Douglas became a part of the exciting cultural movement inspired by the teachings of Alain Locke, an African American philosopher and social activist. The New Negro Movement emphasized self-respect and pride among African Americans, and the enormous creative outpouring that resulted became known as the Harlem Renaissance. This print of a young Langston Hughes made during Douglas’s tenure at Fisk University exemplifies the graphic style of the Harlem Renaissance, in which geometric patterning and angular silhouettes pay homage to African continental aesthetics.