Wi n o n a

v a n

A l s t y n e

H a r l e m

R e n a i s s a n c e

P a p e r

P r o f e s s o r Vi s u a l

E d d i e A r t 1 6 ,

C h a m b e r s

H i s t o r y 2 0 1 3

J u n e

Palmer Haydens Nous Quatre a Paris and the Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance is heralded as the only period in United States History when there was an increase in attention towards and appreciation for African American intellectual,

musical, and visual creativity.1 Commonly characterized as The Jazz Age, because of the revolutionary form of music that became distinctively attached to urban African American identity, this socially and academically crucial movement was centered around the Harlem district of New York from the end of the First World War up to the Stock Market Crash of the early 1930s.2 The most profoundly significant feature of the Harlem Renaissance was its attempt to rediscover, and reformulate African American identities. The notion of discarding the world view of the stereotypic southern slave to that of the modern black intellectual was widely discussed in both literature, and artistic compositions.3 The attempt to reevaluate African American culture and individuality was an essential theme in the work of major Renaissance artists such as Palmer Hayden. His artworks exemplify the serious efforts he made, as well as the hardships he faced, as an African American man striving to distinguish himself as a modern urban artist capable of producing complex and resounding paintings.4 The artistic and political motives of the Harlem Renaissance are strongly demonstrated in Palmer Haydens Nous Quatre a Paris (We Four in Paris) (picture 1).5 In this highly

1 Richard J. Powell, Re/Birth of a Nation Hayward Gallery: Rhapsodies in Black Art of the Harlem Renaissance (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1997), 14-18 2 Powell, Re/Birth of a Nation, 16 3 Mary Schmidt Campbell, Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America (Abrams, New York, 1867) 4 Eric Hanks, Journey From The Crossroads: Palmer Haydens Right Turn. International Review of African American Art Vol. 16, Number 1 (1997): 30-42 5 Palmer Hayden, Nous Quatre a Paris (We Four in Paris), American, watercolor on paper, (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, 1890-1973).

sophisticated painting, there are several prominent features that denote Haydens direct, yet multi-faceted, social commentary. The piece relies heavily on sharp directional lines suggestive of a two dimensional composition. Its appearance of crude simplicity is carefully simulated to induce a social awkwardness that permeates the entire work. To reenforce this concept, the card table, the pool table, door, room, and the four angles created by the wine glass and coffee cup opposite the red and white billiard balls are rendered as parallelograms. Rather than adding symmetrical strength and clarity, the uneven shapes imply tension through their abrupt and dynamic movement between irregular diagonals. These multiple and intersecting frames are evocative of a confusing and cage-like environment indicating Haydens inability to rid himself of the years of subjugation he endured while living as a black man in the United States. Despite the Parisian context of the composition, Hayden and the others pictured in the work do not appear relaxed but rather on their guard as though their relative freedom of movement will be restricted at any moment. To complete this idea, Hayden has presented the four card players in an angular and caricatured manner similar to their surroundings. Ironically entitled, We Four in Paris, the piece evokes a sense of great insecurity because each person is rendered in profile, not looking at one another but rather staring into the empty corners of the billiard room.6 It is as though they feel unsafe and insecure as to their position in such an atmosphere. Not one of the main characters is focusing on what should be the focal point of their concentration- the card game. To support this sense of unease, the wineglass and coffee cup are balanced precariously on the card table creating tension between themselves as well as between the persons to whom they appear to belong. This stylistic aspect

Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Kwame Anthony, editors, Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, second edition (Oxford University Press, 2005), excerpts.
6

symbolizes the racial insecurity of the card players, a caustic reminder of the social truths they have left behind in the United States. is a major underlying theme of the Harlem Renaissance. Haydens representation of himself and his friends however has greater artistic impact. With protruding lips, big bald heads, and vacant expressions on their faces, Haydens rendering of himself and his friends is similar to the racist cartoon representations of black men during the previous time period. In doing so, he is both disassociating himself from these cartoon creatures as well as identifying with them. This is yet another means by which he is expressing the general African American disjuncture between collective and individual identities. One of the many great African American artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Palmer Hayden, strove to portray the immense difficulties African Americans encountered in their attempts to reconstruct their communal identity. To render this on a more personal level, Haydens watercolor, We Four in Paris, symbolizes African American insecurities and cultural dissociation through the cage-like framing of the picture with parallelograms, the tension-filled positioning of the cup and wine glass, as well as, the body language and positions of the card players. Honing in on the day to day social pain endured by every African American, Hayden has revealed and paid homage to the innermost sufferings of the African American intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance.

Picture 1

Works Cited

1. Richard J. Powell. Re/Birth of a Nation Hayward Gallery: Rhapsodies in Black Art of the Harlem Renaissance. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. 2. Mary Schmidt Campbell. Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America.

Abrams: New York, 1987. 3. Hanks, Eric. Journey From The Crossroads: Palmer Haydens Right

Turn International Review of African American Art Volume 16, Number 1 (1997): 30-42. 4. Gates Jr., Henry Louis, and Anthony, Kwame, editors, excerpts from Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Oxford University Press, second edition, 2005.

Pictures 5. Hayden, Palmer. Nous Quatre a Paris (We Four in Paris), American,

watercolor on paper, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, (1890-1973).