Harlem Street Scene

Created by Charles Henry Alston in the late 1930s, Harlem Street Scene packs all the exuberance and abundance of Harlem culture into one moment of a regular day. Men and women sport the latest fashions, businesses advertise their wares, and a small child stands cozily bundled at their mother’s side—all on just a single street corner. Harlem Street Scene captures the vibrant vitality of the community Alston called home.

In 1935, Alston became the first African-American supervisor to work at the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project. While there, he focused on mastering his signature portraiture techniques. While remaining highly detailed and realistic, the intensity and angularity of Alston’s faces show an early leaning towards abstraction, a style that became paramount to his decorated career.