Horace Pippin painted Harmonizing in 1944. In the center of the painting, four African Americans stand unified together in front of a fence, on a dirt side walk near a lamppost. The men are singing together as if it is an everyday occurrence. In front of them sits a gray box. The fence behind them stands tall and takes up a significant amount of the painting’s background. On the right side, appears a house that resembles a farmhouse. Behind the fence, a white brick building represents a church. The African American men are purposely placed in the center of the painting to show unity, which is important because during the time period that this piece was created, segregation was increasingly prevalent and thus, people were forced to unify in order to survive.

Pippin’s painting contains a variety of bold colors. The colors of the subject’s clothing, mainly the yellow, attracts us to them immediately. As yellow is a warm color, it brings our gaze to the men. The warmth and brightness of the yellow symbolizes friendship and the cozy, safe feeling one gets when surrounded with friends. Friends also produce happiness and optimism when times are bleak. These men are unified through friendship and their singing. Three of the men are dressed fairly nicely while the man on the right is wearing overalls. However, the man all the way to the left wears a simple black shirt. This observation symbolizes power and wealth among the group because the man in black looks like the leader of the group as they harmonize on the streets. Two of the men are wearing yellow shirts so we are attracted to them. The man all the way to the right sports dark blue overalls symbolic of youth. He is also shorter than the rest of the group and the painter uses this height difference to show his youth. He wears a style of clothing reminiscent to a farmer, which is different than the rest of the group. Therefore, there is a possibility he is from the farm-like house on the right side of the painting. Perhaps, he heard the harmonizing of the group on the street and strolled over to listen. The rest of the group accepts this young boy as one of their own and he joins in with their singing. This gesture further exemplifies friendship and unity because these African American men, along with many others in this time, would join together in light of hardships, such as segregation. 

Pippin also uses a variety of other colors throughout the painting. The fence, which takes up a substantial amount of the painting, is a dull light brown. The fence is symbolizing segregation and how it separated many people. The fence acts like a divide, just how many people and places were divided based on the color of their skin. Moreover, this color symbolizes that segregation was and still is unclear to many people. Why and how did segregation evolve? Why were African Americans treated unequally? Questions like these, make people even more confused. Next, the white building in the top left corner is symbolic as well. Although a lot of the painting is visibly dark, the white lightens the scene and attracts your eyes. This white building looks like a church. Many African Americans turned to religion and spiritual guidance during this time period. This shows unity among those who attended church and prayed about common issues. 

Harmonizing consists of several detailed and patterned lines. The majority of the lines on the fence are vertical, meaning they are perpendicular to the earth. These lines cause our eyes to wander up and down and make us want to look up to the sky. Pippin wants us to notice the church in the background because of the importance of religion in African American lives. The man in the blue striped shirt and several of the subjects’ pants have lines that are vertically arranged. This feature goes well with the fence behind them because it is visually appealing to have the vertical lines layered on top of each other. Majority of the left side of the painting has vertical lines that catch your gaze first, but then, as you move to the right side of the painting, the lines contrast and now shift horizontally. The horizontal lines on the house and neighboring homes signify that they are there for good because the lines are parallel with the ground and shows stability. The lines also bring our eyes from left to right which makes us want to see what is to the left and right of the scene. How long does the fence continue? Are there more houses down the street? Moreover, there are areas where the vertical and horizontal lines come together, such as the windows on the house. When these lines clash, the object’s structure shows and as a result, the house looks secure and neat. The clashing of the lines symbolize the clashing of races that happened quite often during this time period. Lastly, with all the different heights of the men, the top of their heads create a downward curve. This curve is like a half circle surrounding the men. This curve symbolizes the unity of the men, just as a circle unifies something it encompasses. 

Pippin’s piece of work is very detailed and sharp. The colors of the subjects, along with the rest of the painting, are bold yet warming. Collectively the colors symbolize friendship, youth, uncertainty, and spirituality: all of which were prevalent during this time period. Several kids had to go through racial tensions and divisions and didn’t know why, but through friendship and spiritual ways, they came to identify themselves as one. Furthermore, the lines of this painting control the movement of your eyes and where you look. The fence symbolizes segregation and emphasize just how much segregation impacted African Americans. Through accepting others, unity was established, resulting in optimism. The subjects of this painting join together through their similarities, such as singing, to overcome the racial tension of this time period. Through the destruction and hardships of their lives, they still find a way to harmonize.  
