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Ritual and Spirituality in African American Culture
Existence, love, creation, and death are universal themes. Everyday culture ponders the questions of life and expresses its spirit through common rituals, in its own way.
This art is inspired by Christian beliefs. Examples of this theme are represented in the three works below by Aaron Douglas, which are illustrations for God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse, a book by James Weldon Johnson. Johnson’s poems are written in the rhythm and pace of an impassioned church sermon.
Visitors also explore the subject of Jacob Lawrence’s Eight Studies for the Book of Genesis series, which pays homage to the charismatic hold a preacher can have over a congregation. Clementine Hunter paints another aspect of ritual in the Funeral Procession.
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Aaron Douglas,
The Creation, 1927, gouache on paper. Walter O. Evans Collection.
This is one of the three images that are
illustrations for the book of poems by James Weldon Johnson entitled
God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. Each
piece was created with a flatly painted, hard-edged style reminiscent
of African sculpture. In these poems Johnson uses the rhythms and
pacing of an African American minister preaching to the congregation.
The Creation was inspired by the Book of Genesis.The Creation depicts the first man with plants, hills, a rainbow, and a stream. Douglas illustrates the moon, as God “flung it against the darkness.” ^ top |
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Aaron Douglas,
Go Down Death—A Funeral Sermon, 1927, gouache on
paper. Walter O. Evans Collection.
Go Down Death–A Funeral Sermon
describes the death of a woman, Sister Caroline, as a passing
on “into the glittering light of glory / On to the great white
throne.” Her carrier is the angel of Death, who rides on his
horse. The broken circle in the lower right refers to the belief in
the continuation of the circle of the family, even after death.^ top |
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Aaron Douglas,
The Judgment Day, 1927, gouache on paper. Walter O. Evans
Collection.
Johnson’s poem The Judgment Day
refers to life after death and how, on the Day of Judgment, the souls
of the living and the dead will be either condemned or redeemed based
on their behavior during earthly life. A winged angel, Gabriel, blows
a trumpet with “one foot on the mountain top” and the
other “in the middle of the sea.” Holding a key to the
Kingdom of Heaven in his left hand, Gabriel blows his horn to “wake
the living nations.”^ top |
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Charles White,
We Have Been Believers, ca. 1940, charcoal on paper. Walter
O. Evans Collection.
This drawing
was inspired by a poem of the same title by Margaret Walker about
the sustaining power of African American religious faith. Here, religious
fervor is conveyed by the somewhat distorted features of the two tightly
paired heads and the expressive gesture of the hand.1949 © The Charles White Archives. The visually complex image is a shift in White’s work in the early ‘40s. While earlier he had been working as a mural painter of historical subjects, at this time he began to portray ordinary people in contemporary situations. His art became more stylized to evoke emotion for the subject portrayed. ^ top |
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Image Caption: Charles White, We Have Been Believers, ca. 1940, charcoal on paper. Walter O. Evans Collection. 1949 © The Charles White Archives. (left)