PROVIDENCE, RI.-The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (known as The RISD Museum) acquired a previously unknown oil painting by Aaron Douglas (American, 1899-1979) on February 19, 2008 at Swann Auction Galleries, New York, NY. The painting, never previously exhibited, was purchased directly from the artist by a colleague at Fisk and passed in descent to family members of the original owner. The painting, Building More Stately Mansions, completed in 1944 is an easel-size variant of Douglas’s famous larger painting with the same title, which is in the Fisk University collection in Nashville, TN.

“The acquisition of this Douglas painting helps us to tell a more complete story in our new Twentieth-Century galleries. While we hold significant works on paper by many African American artists, we did not have a significant oil painting from the Harlem Renaissance until now,” said Hope Alswang, Director of the Museum.

Douglas’s unique Modernist style emerged during intense engagement with other African-American artists, writers, and musicians whom he encountered when he moved to Harlem in 1925. His work celebrated the intellectual and artistic achievements of Africans and African-Americans, which were brought to life by Douglas in an impressive series of mural commissions. Building More Stately Mansions symbolizes the labor of black men and women in the creation of great architectural monuments, silhouetting their active figures against a utopian background. Concentric bands of muted color suggest waves of history and knowledge, linking the builders of pyramids, temples, and churches to the skyscrapers of the present and anticipating future achievements.

The painting complements other works by Douglas in the Museum’s collection, including studies for existing murals at Fisk as well as one for a now-destroyed hotel in Chicago. Like these other works, this new acquisition employs the artist’s signature combination of Art Deco and African forms.

The Museum has been actively seeking a significant painting from the Harlem Renaissance for its collection for several years. The acquisition was made at the third auction organized by Swann’s new African-American Art Department. The Museum faced fierce competition from other bidders including several other museums.

The Museum is currently creating new galleries in its 1926 Radeke Building devoted to Twentieth-Century art and design. This new space represents the largest permanent galleries devoted to the Twentieth Century in the Museum’s history. The June opening of the galleries will continue a four-year reinstallation of the Museum’s permanent collection galleries—the most comprehensive reinstallation since 1926. This fall, RISD will open The Chace Center, a five-story building which includes a Museum expansion and new visitor amenities. The Chace Center connects to the older complex of four buildings through a glass bridge which will lead directly into the Twentieth-Century Galleries where the Douglas painting will be on permanent view.

This major acquisition was made possible by a bequest from Frederick Lippitt last year to support acquisitions of art work for the Museum’s collection. The auction took place on Tuesday, February 19 at Swann Auction Galleries, 104 East 25 Street, New York, NY 10010, www.swanngalleries.com.