Aaron Douglas was an African American painter and muralist who played an important role in the Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1899 and grew up in a town that was segregated by race. Douglas began his art education at the University of Nebraska, but he transferred to the New York Art Students League where he studied under Charles Alston and George Grosz. Douglas’s paintings often featured African American subjects and dealt with themes of racial identity and discrimination. He was also a prolific illustrator, and his work appeared in many magazines and newspapers of the day. In addition to his paintings, Douglas also created a series of murals for the Library of Congress in 1938. Douglas’s work was influential on many other artists, and he is considered one of the key figures of the Harlem Renaissance. He died in New York City in 1979.
