Palmer Hayden
Harlem Renaissance
1937
Oil
The Janitor Who Paints
Palmer Hayden was born in Wide Water, Virginia. As a young man growing up Hayden studied at the Cooper Union in New York City and he also practiced independent studies at Boothbay Art Colony in Maine. Hayden was a prolific artist in his time. His first famous piece was created in 1926 called Fetiche et Fleurs, this piece of art work won the esteemed Harmon Foundations Gold Award. Hayen’s inspirations were from the environment around him, he mostly was focused on African American experiences. The time period of the painting was the Harlem Renaissance. The material used to complete this painting was oil. The title of this painting by Palmer Hayden is “The Janitor Who Paints “. In this painting it shows a man painting an African American women and child with a cat at the woman’s feet. This may have symbolized his family. The reason why I picked this piece of art was because of how the lady and child were presented. The lady looked like a very strong hard working African American who looked as if she took part in the dances at this time period because of her style of her dress. This painting seems to set a mood. It has a certain tone, the reason saying this is because of how peaceful the woman and child looks but not only that but the janitor that is painting the portrait looks very calm as well.
The purpose of the Harlem Renaissance seemed to be a way African Americans expressed their self. They expressed their selves through music, dance, and art. The rhythm of the music seemed to be clearer on how people felt during this time. A genre of music that people
