| The emergence of African-American visual artists during the race reform movement known variously as the New Negro Movement, the Negro Renaissance, and the Harlem Renaissance has been appraised in anthologies and captured in exhibitions. Yet, little research has been concerned with its occurrence. Moreover, none of this research has been directly concerned with the major patron of the emergence of these artists--the Harmon Foundation. This study focuses on the Harmon Foundation's patronage of African-American visual artists from 1926 to 1931. It argues that Harmon's efforts to foster patronage--defined here as the creation, development, organization, and distribution of art works--reinforced the marginal status of African-American artists in American culture.;This study reveals that the Harmon Foundation encouraged patronage that held to traditional American inequalities of race, wealth, and power. It fostered the emergence of a significant number of African-American artists. It fostered the idea that a distinct category, a black aesthetic, was the legitimate culture expression of these artists. Moreover, it fostered the idea that access to the works of these artists should be controlled by white elites.;The Harlem Renaissance was born of a social milieu created by the social and economic disillusionment and chaos following World War I. Its reform ideology was based on the assumption that cultural achievement was the best means for improving the conditions of African-Americans. Confirmed in its belief that fostering individual improvement was the best solution for the amelioration of social problems within America's capitalistic economic structure, the Harmon Foundation supported the art-making efforts encouraged by Harlem Renaissance ideology and, in turn, used this race reform ideology to develop and implement an art program for aspiring African-American artists. This study examines its patronage of the art of African-Americans through an analysis of funding patterns, expectations, and outcomes of its fine arts award competitions and art exhibitions. |
