ABSTRACT
One of the most important effects of the New Negro movement and its expression in the Harlem Renaissance was the freeing of black artists from the traditional patterns of Negro art. Some critics have deprecated the importance of the Harlem Renaissance because of the uneven quality of much of the Negro writing of the period. In spite of, or perhaps, because of the fulminations that appeared in the Negro press against certain black authors, the black public became aware that its portrait was being painted by its own intelligentsia. Carl Van Vechten's acquaintance with black artists was formed during the period when the Harlem Renaissance was just coming into existence. Van Vechten's contribution to the Harlem Renaissance is second in importance only to the contributions made by the Negro magazines, Crisis and Opportunity. Almost all of the artists of the Harlem Renaissance were personally indebted in some measure to Van Vechten for his contributions to their artistic careers.
