9 th ▁century , ▁Har ri et ▁Pow ers ▁made ▁qu il ts ▁in ▁rural ▁Georgia , ▁United ▁States ▁that ▁are ▁now ▁considered ▁among ▁the ▁fin est ▁examples ▁of ▁ 1 9 th - century ▁Southern ▁qu il ting . ▁Later ▁in ▁the ▁ 2 0 th ▁century , ▁the ▁women ▁of ▁Ge e ' s ▁B end ▁developed ▁a ▁distinct ive , ▁bold , ▁and ▁s oph istic ated ▁qu il ting ▁style ▁based ▁on ▁traditional ▁African - American ▁qu il ts ▁with ▁a ▁geometric ▁simplicity ▁that ▁developed ▁separately ▁but ▁was ▁like ▁that ▁of ▁Am ish ▁qu il ts ▁and ▁modern ▁art . ▁ ▁After ▁the ▁American ▁Civil ▁War , ▁museum s ▁and ▁gall eries ▁began ▁more ▁frequently ▁to ▁display ▁the ▁work ▁of ▁African - American ▁artists . ▁Cultural ▁expression ▁in ▁main stream ▁ven ues ▁was ▁still ▁limited ▁by ▁the ▁dominant ▁European ▁a est h etic ▁and ▁by ▁ra cial ▁pre jud ice . ▁To ▁increase ▁the ▁visibility ▁of ▁their ▁work , ▁many ▁African - American ▁artists ▁tra ve led ▁to ▁Europe ▁where ▁they ▁had ▁greater ▁freedom . ▁It ▁was ▁not ▁until ▁the ▁Har lem ▁Renaissance ▁that ▁more ▁European ▁Americans ▁began ▁to ▁pay ▁attention ▁to ▁African - American ▁art ▁in ▁America . ▁ ▁During ▁the ▁ 1 9 2 0 s , ▁artists ▁such ▁as ▁Raymond ▁Bar th é , ▁A aron ▁Douglas , ▁August a ▁Sav age , ▁and ▁photograph er ▁James ▁Van ▁Der ▁Ze e ▁became ▁well ▁known ▁for ▁their ▁work . ▁During ▁the ▁Great ▁De pression , ▁new ▁opportun