Looking Upward

James Lesesne Wells, Looking Upward, 1928, woodcut on paper, sheet: 22 x 17 in. (55.8 x 43.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jacob and Ruth Kainen, 1993.75.2

Artwork Details

Title: Looking Upward
Artist: James Lesesne Wells
Date: 1928
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet: 22 x 17 in. (55.8 x 43.2 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Jacob and Ruth Kainen
Mediums Description: woodcut on paper
Classifications: Graphic Arts
Print
Subjects: Cityscape
Figure male — full length
Architecture Exterior — commercial — skyscraper
Object Number: 1993.75.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1993.75.2

Artwork Description

Amid the Great Migration of Blacks from the American South to northern cities, James Wells moved to New York in 1919 and joined the bourgeoning Harlem Renaissance, a vibrant community of African American writers, musicians, and artists. Inspired by a major exhibition of art from the Belgian Congo shown at the Brooklyn Museum in 1923, Wells began incorporating stylistic elements from African art in his own works. In Looking Upward, the figure's angular simplicity evokes West African sculpture. Additionally, this print encapsulates the Harlem Renaissance's optimism by showing a Black figure towering over skyscrapers and cradling a section of the city, perhaps Harlem, in his arms. Wells influenced successive generations through his art and as a teacher at Howard University, where he worked beginning in 1929, splitting the remainder of his career between New York and Washington, DC.