(Left to Right) Fred Fripp, Graduate of Penn School, with Carol and Evelyn by Winold Reiss, 1927; Girl in a Red Dress, by Charles Henry Alston, 1934; Portrait of a Student, by Laura Wheeler Waring, c. 1930s; Josephine Baker, Adolf de Meyer American, 1925-26
(by: Brittny K.)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is honoring Black History Month with the unveiling of their Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism exhibit now through July 28, 2024. I had the opportunity to visit opening weekend and had an incredible, culturally enriching good time. Featuring “some 160 works of painting, sculpture, photography, film, and ephemera, the artwork explores the comprehensive and far-reaching ways in which Black artists portrayed everyday modern life in the new Black cities that took shape in the 1920s–40s in New York City’s Harlem and nationwide in the early decades of the Great Migration.”
Among the notable artists featured were Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, William H. Johnson, Archibald Motley (my personal fav), Winold Reiss, Augusta Savage, James Van Der Zee, and Laura Wheeler Waring. The pieces expressed a wide variety of themes including urban nightlife, class and colorism, sexuality, family and race relations. Although I’d been familiar with some of these works, I found a new appreciation for them within the context and layout of the full show. I was especially moved by Winold Reiss’ mixed media image entitled, “Fred Fripp, Graduate of Penn School, Teacher, with Carol and Evelyn.” The portrayal of the southern Black American gentleman embracing his daughters told such an emotional story without words.
Prior to this visit, I hadn’t been to The Met in nearly twenty years. I would strongly encourage my RVT neighbors to plan a trip there to take advantage of one of the best artistic institutions in the world. The Harlem Renaissance exhibit is wonderful, but there are countless other art collections in the mega museum that are bound to catch your eye and pique your curiosity.
RVT Voices 
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