German-born American artist Fritz Winold Reiss studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and the School of Applied Arts in Munich. Drawn to the United States because of its ethnic diversity, Reiss emigrated from Germany in 1913.
The artist played an important role in the construction of the African American image in the 1920s, and his portrayals of Black Americans who lived in Harlem were at odds with the stereotyped caricatures that were still prevalent in the U.S. In 1925, African-American writer and philosopher Alain Locke asked Reiss to illustrate a special issue of Survey Graphic magazine devoted to the Harlem Renaissance in New York City entitled “Harlem: Mecca of the New Negro.” For this project, Reiss met and chose his models from a cross-section of the African American community: laborers, singers, ministers, sociologists, and children, including the girl with dark brown skin in this portrait.
A designer at heart, Reiss balances the skilful rendering of the sitter's individuality with an indication of the young woman's cultural type. In this instance, the girl's dramatic, “Egyptian style” hair references the richness of her African heritage. Her face is a focal point, exhibiting a serious, perhaps slightly pensive expression. She has dark eyes, a straight nose, and her mouth is set in a neutral, almost slightly downturned line. Her posture is upright and still. The beautiful young woman wears a simple, cream-colored, short-sleeved blouse. The sleeves are edged with delicate white lace.
Locke believed in the importance of using art to construct new cultural identities for Black people in the United States, writing in his book The New Negro: "Art must discover and reveal the beauty which prejudice and caricature have overlaid." While not invented by Locke, the term “New Negro” attempted to encapsulate the African-American search for self-identity and self-visualization during this era.
"Harlem Girl, I" by Fritz Winold Reiss (German American) - Pencil, charcoal, and pastels on heavy illustration board / c. 1925 - Museum of Art and Archaeology (Columbia, Missouri) #WomenInArt #art #FritzWinoldReiss #WinoldReiss #Reiss #artText #PortraitofaGirl #1920s #MuseumofArtandArchaeology