In February 2024, The Metropolitan Museum of Art is set to host “The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism,” an innovative exhibition showcasing around 160 artworks, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, films, and ephemera. This exhibit aims to delve into how Black artists depicted the modern life of newly established Black urban centers in Harlem and across the US from the 1920s to the 1940s, a pivotal time during the Great Migration. Marking the first museum survey on this theme in New York City since 1987, it positions the Harlem Renaissance at the forefront of the international modern art scene.
The exhibition will feature celebrated artists like Charles Alston, Aaron Douglas, and others, placing their work in conversation with that of European artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, to highlight a global perspective on the African diaspora. A considerable portion of the artworks originates from the collections of HBCUs, including Clark Atlanta University Art Museum and Fisk University Galleries, among others. Contributions also come from major institutions like the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, supplemented by loans from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, private collectors, and prominent European sources, underscoring the enduring influence and significance of the Harlem Renaissance in shaping modern art.
