Undated photograph of Douglas. Aaron Douglas (May 26, 1898 - February 3, 1979) was an African-American painter and a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. In 1925, he moved to NYC and began to produce illustrations for The Crisis and Opportunity, the two most important magazines associated with the Harlem Renaissance. His illustrations appeared in books by James Weldon Johnson, Countee Cullen, Alain Locke, and other prominent black writers, activists, and intellectuals. During the early 1930s he completed the most important works of his career, his murals at Fisk University and at the 135th Street Branch of the NYPL. In 1940, he moved to Nashville, where he founded the Art Department at Fisk University and taught for 27 years. His best-known paintings are semi-abstract, and feature flat forms, hard edges, and repetitive geometric shapes. His art was shown across the US at universities, galleries, and museums, including the Harmon Foundation, Museum of Fine Arts in Dallas, Howard University's Gallery of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and NY's Gallery of Modern Art. He died in 1979 at the age of 80.