Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000)
Story Teller Artist
Lawrence in his studio (Figure 1)
http://www.landsvideo.com/J_Lawrence.htm
Early Influences
Crayons and poster paint have become the trademark feature of pioneering
African American artist Jacob Lawrence. Born in Atlantic City in 1917, he credited his
mother, a homemaker who decorated her house with great care, as his earliest influence.
Inspired by the activity, objects, and colors surrounding him he stated:
Our homes were very decorative, full of pattern, like inexpensive throw rugs, all
around the house. It must have had some influence, all this color and everything.
Because we were so poor the people used to do bright patterns after these throw
rugs; I got ideas from them, the arabesques, the movement and so on.
(Lawrence, quoted by King Hammond, in Nesbett & Du Bois, 2000, p. 73)
As a "storyteller artist" he depicted the unfolding, epic narrative of African
Americans through several thematic series. His work although not purposefully intended
to be historical has greatly contributed to the visual documentation of the times thereby
making a remarkable contribution to American art.
Lawrence's family, originally from South Carolina and Virginia, were part of The
Great Migration –a collective movement of Black Americans away from Southernmost
states to escape social discrimination and oppression, the travesties of their race.
Hundreds of thousands of Black workers and their families fled from the lynching mobs,
violence, poor education, and abject poverty that had become the order of the day. It is
documented that between 1913 and 1946 the changing industrial climate with
opportunities for higher wages and a more tolerant attitude created a mass migration of
Blacks to cities such as Chicago and New York in the North and St Louis in the mid west
(Patton, 1998).
Harlem's Spell
This is Harlem (1943) (Figure 2)
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Classroom/
LawrenceForKids.pdf
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Arriving in Harlem as an impressionable teenager with his mother, younger
brother, and sister during the cultural explosion of the Harlem Renaissance, Lawrence
was amazed by what he saw.
I think I was so impressed when we moved to New York. My family moved to
New York when I was about 13, that was in 1930, and I was so overwhelmed by
the tall buildings, the fire escapes, that has stuck with me all these years. So I use
it as a theme in many of my works. (Lawrence, L & S Video Inc., 1998)
Black writers, artists, business people, and politicians were creating a new reality
for the Black American and the atmosphere in Harlem was one of energy and excitement
despite the Great Depression. Lawrence spent his life recording the images around him,
the streets of Harlem, local people, and events, and the color and details of daily life.
In his words he was "inspired by teachers and librarians," and "everyone in the
community was a role model" (Lawrence, L & S Video Inc., 1998). His autobiographical
works lend a modernist and historic view of the everyday life of African Americans in
the city inadvertently filling a major gap in history for future generations. A survey of his
work fills a significant gap in the history of the United States that is taught in schools.
Lawrence, who had always been interested in the subject, knew that the textbooks were
leaving something important out. He remarked, "I don't know how the history of the
United States can be written honestly without including the Negro (Lawrence, L & S
Video Inc., 1998).
Lawrence continued to paint, developing a distinctly unique style. His special
artistic skills and ability to arrange colors in powerful geometric patterns were noticed by
Charles Alston, the director of the day-care art program at Utopia Children's House on
170 West 130th Street (King Hammond, in Nesbett & Du Bois, 2000). Alston recognized
in Lawrence a unique outlook and natural giftedness deciding, "it would (have been) a
mistake to try to teach Jake. He was teaching himself, finding his own way. All he
needed was encouragement and technical information" (Alston, quoted in Bearden &
Henderson, 1972, p. 102).
Lawrence continued his studies with Alston and the WPA Harlem Art Workshops
in 1932, at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library (Nesbett & DuBois,
79
2000, p. 26), and then, in 1934, at 306 West 141st Street. Reflecting on this experience
years later he considered the WPA Federal Arts Project:
…to have been a school for him in many ways, a chance to interchange with
many diverse artists; the opportunity to concentrate on work with all the materials
provided and the dignity of having a good job in hard times (Davis, L & S Video
Inc. 1998).
It was at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library that Lawrence
became inspired by Barbadian lecturer and historian of African and African American
literature. Charles C. Seifert (1871–1949). This experience gave him a desire to depict
the stories he had heard he subsequently began his series of heroic narratives for which
he is reknowned (King–Hammond, in Nesbett & Du Bois, 2000).
The speed with which Lawrence was recognized and embraced by the art
community is impressive. In 1938, with support from up and coming sculptor Augusta
Savage (1892–1962), and his assignment to the WPA, he found himself, at 21 years of
age, in a solo exhibition at the Harlem YMCA sponsored by the James Weldon Johnson
Litereay Guild. This was the the first of many solo exhibitions that spanned his lifetime
(Nesbett & DuBois, 2000).
Story Teller Artist
Within his own workshop space, which he rented in Alston's studio from 1934
until 1940, Lawrence continued to work with crayons and poster paint, seeing no reason
to change because they were fast drying and inexpensive to use (L & S Video Inc.,1998).
It was here that Lawrence created over 170 paintings depicting nearly 200 years of
African American history, adding prose captions to each painting (Hutton Turner, in
Nesbett & Du Bois, 2000).
In a 1998 interview with Linda Freeman, Lawrence stated this about his paintings:
I wanted to tell a story and I could not tell a story in one painting, I did not receive
a "mural commission" and I wanted to tell the full story of a person, somebody
like Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass or personalities like that from
American history and I decided to do it in a 'series' form (Lawrence in L & S
Video Inc., 1998).
Lawrence painted the Tubman Series of seventeen paintings in 1967. He admired
Tubman for all she had overcome and all she had achieved in leading enslaved people to
80
freedom. He wanted to tell her story and honor her through his work. In his words:
This is one of the great American sagas, exploring the American experience is a
beautiful thing; the building af America, the contribution all of us have made,
which is part of that experience We hear about Molly Pitcher, about Betsy Ross,
the Negro woman has never been included in American history. I didn't not do
this just as a historical thing but because I believe these things tie up with the
Negro today. We don’t have a physical slavery, but an economic slavery. If these
people who were so much worse off than the people today could conquer their
slavery, we certainly can do the same thing. They had to liberate themselves
without any education (Lawrence, L&S Video Inc. 1998).
Some of his series, including that of Harriet Tubman are briefly highlighted here:
Toussaint L'Ouverture (c.1743 – 1803)
General Toussaint L'Ouverture (1986) Toussaint L'Ouverture Series (Figure 3)
http://www.artgallery.umd.edu/driskell/exhibition/sec2/lawr_j_01.htm
Lawrence painted 41 panels between 1937 and 1938 to document the struggle for
independence from France by Haitian slaves led by General Touissaint L'Ouverture. This
movement signified the beginning of Black separatism and large scale immigration to the
Caribbean by former slaves from the United States (Wikipedia, Touissant L'Ouverture,
2006).
With his love of history and his ability to paint, Lawrence presented L'Ouverture,
whom he considered an inspirational hero, as a positive role model for racial equality and
human rights. This series "set the standard for Lawrence's lifelong dedication to the
visual description of black life and history within a narrative context" (Driskell,
Narratives of African American Art and Identity, n.d., p. 2.).
Frederick Douglass (1818 –1895)
Frederick Douglass series No. 21, (1938 –39) (Figure 4)
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa302.htm
The Frederick Douglass series showcases a former slave who overcame
tremendous barriers to become a spokesperson for the abolitionist movement and racial
81
equality. He was considered a hero amongst fellow African Americans (PBS Online,
Africans in America, n.d., part 4).
Lawrence completed this series of 39 paintings in 1939 and presented it to the
Harmon Foundation as security for a loan of approximately $100 (Horsley, Over the
Line, The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence, The City Review, n.d. para.8).
Harriet Tubman (1820 – 1913)
The Life of Harriet Tubman Series, Panel No. 7 (1939–40) (Figure 5)
http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/saltz/saltz1-23-2.asp
The Harriet Tubman series of 31 historical panels highlights the life and
accomplishments of Tubman, a former slave who, witnessing the horrors of slavery first
hand, made her escape from her owners in 1849 (Wikipedia, 2006, Harriet Tubman,
para.3).
Lawrence documents her journey to the North, night after night to achieve the
liberation of all slaves. He highlights her rise to popularity through her anti-slavery
speeches, and her subsequent return to the South to serve the Union cause. A friend of
both Frederick Douglass and John Brown, Tubman is amongst those considered by
Lawrence to be the true heroes of African American history (Nesbett & Dubois, 2000,
Harriet Tubman series, pp. 303- 306).
John Brown (1800-1859)
The Life of John Brown (1941) Panel 22 (Figure 6)
http://www.queensmuseum.org/education/ps144/gallery/jlimage-no22.html
Lawrence painted 22 scenes of John Brown, who, convicted he had been chosen
by God to free the slaves, is famed for his creation of guerilla warfare as a means of
abolishing slavery. Lawrence's panels depict Brown's journey from the beginnings of his
reflections on the hopelessness of the situation, through his victory in major battles and
massacres, including the most famous and final raid against the federal armory at
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, on October 16, 1859. Lawrence's final panel in the series
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shows Brown at his hanging on December 2, 1859, after having been found guilty of
"treason and murder in the 1st Degree" (Wikipedia, John Brown, n.d. para 2-3).
The Migration of the Negro (1940/41)
More detailed information about this series appears here as it is included in the
portfolio of the Harlem to the Classroom: Art with Kids Program;
In 1940 when Lawrence was only 24 years old he received a grant from the Julian
Rosenwald Fund Fellowship1 and created a series of sixty panels entitled "The Migration
of the Negro," which looked back at the varied experiences of Black Americans as they
moved away from the struggles of the rural South to the industrialized cities of the urban
North. Although autobiographical to some degree, Lawrence considered it important to
research the history of the migration both through documents at at the 135th Street library
and through conversation with people in the Harlem commmunity (King- Hammond, in
Nesbett & Du Bois, 2000). Current research shows that he used Emmett J. Scott's
publication Negro Migration during the War (1920) as a primary source, even naming the
series of his paintings from chapter titles in the book (Phillips Collection, Jacob
Lawrence pdf, n.d.).
With the assistance of future wife, artist Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, he worked
by first developing a series of drawings and captions for each of the 60 hardboard panels.
1
Julius Rosenwald was born August 12, 1862- 1932.
In 1917 he established the Julius Rosenwald Foundation for the wellbeing of mankind:
Rosenwald took particular interest in the plight of African Americans. His charity committed
large sums of money for the construction of schools, affectionately known as “Rosenwald
Schools,” in poor, rural and primarily African American school districts in 15 Southern states.
These schools were cooperatively built with assistance from the local African American
communities. Donations of land and labor by the local community were matched by financial
contributions from the Rosenwald Foundation. The Foundation contributed to the construction of
over 5, 357 school buildings, nearly 200 teachers’ homes, 163 workshops and five industrial high
schools for African Americans with a combined pupil capacity of 663,615 students. Rosenwald
also supported higher education for African Americans. He became a trustee of the Tuskegee
Institute in 1912. He gave over two million dollars to Black University Centers at Tuskegee,
Howard, Fisk, Atlanta and Dillard Universities. The Rosenwald Foundation gave approximately
1,000 scholarships or fellowships to African American students (Sears Archives, 2004, paras 1–
3).
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This first one held the caption "During the World War, there was a great migration North
by Southern Negroes" (Nesbett & Du Bois, 2000, p. 307).
Migration of the Negro, Panel 1 (1940/41) (Figure 7)
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Classroom/
LawrenceForKids.pdf
Using his familiar technique of hard edged, geometric shapes, and the powerful
use of strong color Lawrence shows the anticipation and enthusiasm of southern
migrants, the mass of people on the move to Chicago, New York, and St. Louis. The
throng of people press forward towards the three named destinations; the outlines of
people in top hats, caps and bowlers, and green and black coats, interspersed with the
occasional yellow or red ones create a unity and rhythm. This repetition of color and
movement was purposeful, something that Lawrence intended, as his words reveal.
It could be a bus; it could be a train; and it's a long arduous ride when these
people came. I tried to create a staccato-like rhythm over and over and over again
[with] the shapes as they move and throughout the series I tried to repeat this
(Phillips Collection, Jacob Lawrence, n.d.).
A Unique Process
Lawrence intentionally limited his palette to bring a sense of unity to all 60 panels
in the series and metaphorically represent the momentum of the migrants' solidarity.
Preferring to work upon several paintings simultaneously, a process that continued
throughout his lifetime, Lawrence created The Migration Series by working on all 60
panels at once by applying one color at a time (Phillips Collection, Jacob Lawrence, n.d.).
Commenting on this method of painting he stated: "It is not just a process of
applying brush to paper, but thinking about it, sitting down and looking at it and going to
another work, that's my process" (Lawrence, L & S Video Inc. 1998). Further, he
explained that when he begins a painting he can already see the whole image in his head
—that the overall work and feeling are already there (Davis, L & S Video Inc. 1998). The
60 panels leave no questions as to why African Americans rushed to leave the South; for
using paint to tell their story Lawrence depicts the problems of racial discrimination,
poverty, the lack of opportunities in education and the humiliation of segregation. He
illustrated the mixed fortunes facing the new migrants in Pittsburgh —the hopefulness of
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a prosperous new lifestyle, and the disappointing realities of overcrowding and
discomfort (Phillips Collection, Jacob Lawrence, n.d., pp. 2–4).
Receiving almost overnight acclaim when this series was hung at the Downtown
Gallery in Manhattan, Lawrence became the first African American artist to be
repesented by a New York Gallery.
Lawrence's goal, however, was not fame and fortune but a genuine desire to
impart knowledge and connect to people. This is revealed in an interview with the Public
Broadcasting Service (PBS) that was originally broadcast in 1995 and repeated as a
tribute a week after his death in 2000. Speaking of his motivation to paint the Migration
Series he said:
I'd like them (people) to experience the beauty of life; the struggle; how people
can overcome certain things that could be very frustrating or very demeaning.
And people have the have the capacity to overcome these obstacles, and this is an
example of that. And I'd like the people to feel, 'Look, this is me, this is mankind
or womankind. And I'm talking about people in general and I would like it to be a
universal statement. That's how I feel (Lawrence in an interview with HunterGault, 2000, Remembering Jacob Lawrence).
In 1942, the Migration Series was taken on a two-year long national tour
(Whitney Museum of American Art: Jacob Lawrence: Picturing Narratives, 2002, para
3.), when Lawrence was drafted into the US Coastguard and stationed in St. Augustine,
Florida for a year. Later, from 1944 until 1946, he worked on a troopship as a Coast
Guard Artist, spending his time documenting the lives of the men and the events of
World War II. After returning from duty in 1946 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship 2
which enabled him to paint his war series.
Harlem Narratives
Continuing to work on thematic groupings Lawrence began to focus on his
immediate source of inspiration, the Harlem Community in which he lived. Between
1942 and 1943 he created 30 paintings that highlighted the role of women, factory
2
Guggenheim Fellowships have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim
Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or
exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes multiple awards in each of two
separate competitions (Wikipedia Guggenheim Fellowship, 2005, para 1).
85
workers, trades people, and business people. He painted street scenes, factory interiors,
family interactions, children in the classroom and at play, and many other typical city
images. His interest and excitement in his surroundings are apparent in his prolific
depiction of everything he saw. He brought Harlem to life with his bold shapes, patterns,
and compelling use of color and vibrancy mixed with the rhythm and harmony of his
compositions (Davis, L & S Video, Inc., 1998).
Home Chores (1945) (Figure 8)
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Classroom/
LawrenceForKids.pdf
Constantly attuned to the plight of the working classes Lawrence is acknowledged
for both his inclusion of the female form and his sensitivity to the plight of the working
women of Harlem. Many paintings depict the daily chores they had to endure, both at
home and in the work place. The painting Home Chores (1945) (Figure 7), demonstrates
his technique and habit of enlarging his subject's arms and hands. He explains, "I love
hands, I think hands are very beautiful. At times I exaggerate the hand to show its
importance as a useful tool (Lawrence, L & S Video, Inc., 1998).
Author's Note: The following images and their documentation also appear in the
addendum as part of the Anyone Can Fly Foundation Art With Kids: Educator's Portfolio
Jacob Lawrence is known today as a storyteller artist. His many paintings
fulfilled his desire to create longlasting portraits of his own life, the people around him,
and Harlem, the community in whichhe grew up. He embraced the energy of the city
commenting,"throughout my life I have loved the street scenes" (Lawrence, L& S Video,
Inc., 1998).
Tombstones (1942) (Figure 9)
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Classroom/
LawrenceForKids.pdf
This painting is considered by many to be Lawrence's definitive statement on
Black urban culture. Presented as a neighborhood scene it is a piece of social realism with
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dense imagery presents the notions of birth, life, and death. Unlike later paintings, that
underlined Lawrence's concerns about social injustices, this painting is thought to be one
that embraces the notion of idealism in the black community (Powell, in Nesbett &
DuBois, 2000).
Lawrence tried to show all the aspects of life from its beginning to its end; a baby
with its mother to signify birth and a child in its carriage to symbolize growth. A woman
in yellow sits on the stoop and women's faces peer from the windows watching as life
passes by with tombstones in the foreground symbolizing the inevitably of death. It is
believed that Lawrence painted the men climbing the steps to symbolize "ascendance."
The inclusion of plants in the top right hand window is also thought to signify the
importance of life and growth (Whitney Museum of American Art (2002), Jacob
Lawrence: Exploring Stories: Family and Community, para 2.).
Summer Street Scene (1948) (Figure 10)
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Classroom/
LawrenceForKids.pdf
Lawrence portrays the hustle and bustle of a busy street well in this colorful
painting. Scenes like this one were part of his memories growing up in New York’s
Harlem community. He painted things he knew about and things he experienced, and, he
wanted his work to express how he felt about people and movement (Boris, 2001, p. 9).
This energetic scene is filled with interesting shapes and colors, the variety of
angles adds to the dynamism of the piece. Lawrence was influenced by images in
Egyptian art and employed them here in the shape of the children’s eyes and their
elongated body forms (Wheat, 1986).
Barber Shop (1946) (Figure 11)
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Classroom/
LawrenceForKids.pdf
Scenes like this one were part of Lawrence’s vivid memories of his childhood in
Harlem. The barbershop was a place to socialize and chat with other men while having a
shave and a haircut. The strong shapes and use of colors in this painting make an exciting
composition. In Lawrence's own words:
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The painting… is one of the many works … executed out of my experience… my
every day visual encounters…as was the ice man…the barefoot prophet, the shell
shocked veteran of World War 1, the woman with the shopping bag, the street
orator, children at play and the many tenements that reached from 110th Street on
the south to 155th Street on the north, and from Lenox Avenue on the east to St.
Nicholas Avenue on the west. It was inevitable that the barber shop with its daily
gathering of Harlemites, its clippers, mirror, razors, the over-all pattern and the
many conversations that took place there… was to become the subject of many of
my paintings. Even now in my imagination, whenever I relive my many years in
the Harlem community, the barber shop, in both form and content…is one of the
many scenes that I still see and remember (Lawrence quoted in Wheat, 1986, pp.
71–72).
The Library (1960) (Figure 12)
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Classroom/
LawrenceForKids.pdf
In this painting Lawrence typically uses geometrical shapes and strong lines to
portray a quiet library scene. Open books with images of African art show that the
African American public were keen to study and learn about their own culture. A
repetitive and limited palette of red, purple, beige, brown, black and green create a unity
and solidarity about the piece (Bolden, 2004).
Builders–19 Men (1979) (Figure 13)
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Classroom/
LawrenceForKids.pdf
From 1946 through the 1990s, Lawrence painted African Americans in highly
skilled jobs. He painted watchmakers, shoe repairmen, cabinetmakers, and builders. He
believed that painting these images would enhance the self-respect and identify the
positive contributions made by African Americans. Of his Builders Series theme he said:
I've been working on the builders theme for years now and I continue to come back to that
theme because I like it. When I was a very young fellow I was
around Cabinet Makers and as the result of that experience I
have used the builders theme quite a bit. It is almost like a dance
to see people moving around, moving tools about. (Lawrence,
L& S Video, Inc., 1998)
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Lawrence's Builders Series illustrates the cooperative nature of the work itself, of
people toiling with one aim in mind, perhaps a symbolic message showing people
working together to build a cooperative society (Davis, L& S Video, Inc. 1998).
Artistic Identity
In October 1949, Lawrence, suffering from a temporary depressive episode
checked himself into a psychiatric hospital in Queens. He remained there for nine months
during which time he completed a series of 11 paintings entitled Hospital Series. It
featured other resident patients. "He later reflected that this series was similar in content
to his other series since it also represented "struggle" (Davis, L & S Video, Inc., 1998).
Lawrence contended that "…as long as we as human beings have the capacity to struggle,
against the odds or whatever I think it is a very good sign that we will and we are
progressing as human beings" (Lawrence, L & S Video, Inc., 1998).
Strike (1949) (Figure 14)
http://www.founders.howard.edu/hucollection/LawrenceJacobStrike.htm
During the late 1940s and 1950s Lawrence continued to develop his artistic
identity as a storyteller artist by continuing to document events in the local community.
He produced such paintings as Strike (1949), that in his recognizable angular and colorful
style portrays a lone Black catcher amidst fellow White team members. Critics have
pointed at this as expression and metaphor both of Lawrence's mental health, as he
recovered from his isolating illness and as social commentary on a segregated sport
(Powell, in Nesbett & DuBois, 2000).
Richard J. Powell, a leading African American art historian and associate
professor of African American art history at Duke University comments on the sociopolitical aspects of this and other works by Lawrence:
The occasional references to the 'universal,' abstract paintings of Norman Lewis,
Hale Woodruff, and Romare Bearden in art criticism also bore witness
to an expanded cultural perspective, one in which "the Negro experience" and its
sociological trappings were filtered through a seemingly raceless and timeless
lens. With perhaps the exception of the 1950s figurative painters Eldzier Cortor
and Charles White, some of the more prominent black artists of the periodincluding Jacob Lawrence-avoided an overt racial message in their work. When
black subject matter was present, the typical accouterments of a cultural rather
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than a racial blackness- mostly scenes of discrimination or acts of black cultural
expressivity- were either non existent or pictorially drained of their immediate
sociopolitical import. In the case of Jacob Lawrence, his artistic presence at mid
century, rather than heralding race consciousness, conveyed a existential
blackness that was incidentally 'colored,' yet unapologetically human and in the
process of becoming. It is this artistic meditation on self and community in the
midst of disorder, societal and psychological- that disguinshes Lawrence in the
1950s and frames the present examination of his work from this period (Powell,
in Nesbett & DuBois, 2000, p. 149).
This commentary positions Lawrence as a documentarian, an observer, and recorder of
time and place, which is indeed what Lawrence would purport to have been. Not all
crtitics agreed with this assessment however, and there were conflicting views amongst
them regarding Lawrence's work at this point in his career. Powell in his essay,
Harmonizer of Chaos, Jacob Lawrence at Midcentury, (Powell in Nesbett and Du Bois,
2000) Powell asserts that Lawrence, with his perhaps more realistic view of American
historical events portrayed things quite differently to the somewhat sentimental, patriotic
and symbolic illustrations by artists such as Norman Rockwell (Powell in Nesbett & Du
Bois 2000).
It appears that Lawrence's hospitalization for depression influenced crtitics'
perception of his style and technique at this time for they saw it as a "problematic period
in his artistic development" in which he had produced a "kaleidoscope fragmentation" in
his hospital paintings and "franticness and anxieties" in others (Powell, in Nesbett and
Dubois, 2000, p. 160).
According to Powell, however, "What these critics failed to realize was that, at
mid-century, Jacob Lawrence—mature, accomplished, and personally and professionally
tested—was neither interested in repeating previously successful stylistic formulas nor
comfortable with replicating his stock subjects from the past." Further he contends that
the critics in their expectation of a continued approach by Lawrence missed the true
subtleties and sociopolitical nuances of his work (Powell, in Nesbett & DuBois, 2000, p.
160–161).
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Civil Rights - Rising Temperatures
Lawrence joined the faculty at Pratt Institute in Manhattan in October of 1958 and
continued to paint and develop his distinctive style, painting scenes from everyday life.
Some of these paintings contained greater political content than others. Disturbed by lack
of progress in the desegregation of the schools made legal in 1954 by the landmark case
of Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka,3 Lawrence created the painting The Ordeal of
Alice (1963). Aware of the harsh realities Black children were suffering, he depicted
arrows piercing Alice as she walks to school carrying her books, the blood from her
wounds dripping down her white dress. Grimacing and taunting heads surround her as
she tries to move forward on her journey (Hills, in Nesbett & DuBois, 2000, p. 179).
He was not merely reflecting current events and how he felt about them,
According to Lawrence "he was painting a nightmare," the nightmare of a Black
existence in America (Hills, in Nesbett & DuBois, 2000, p. 181). This painting, as well as
American Revolution (1963), was created as a cover for the magazine Motive. Depicting a
man surrounded by vicious dogs. it served as a reminder of civil unrest and a particular
event in May, 1963, in Birmingham, Alabama,4 where non-violent protesters to civil
rights abuses were set upon by police dogs. This painting created a stir among art critics
who were used to less obvious imagery (Hills, in Nesbett & DuBois, 2000).
Temperatures were rising amongst civil rights movements and the case of Brown
v. Board of Education in Topeka served to mark a new era. The establishment of Black
Nationalism in the 1920s and 30s. under the guidance of Marcus Garvey5 and the
subesequent rise of Black Power and the Black Panther party led by Malcolm X6 in the
3
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)[1], was a landmark case of the United
States Supreme Court which explicitly outlawed de jure racial segregation of public education facilities
(legal establishment of separate government-run schools for blacks and whites), ruling so on the grounds
that the doctrine of "separate but equal" public education could never truly provide black Americans with
facilities of the same standards available to white Americans (Wikipedia: Brown v. Board of Education ,
para 1).
4
Modern American Poetry: (n.d..) About the 1963 Birmingham Bombings
5
Marcus Garvey, The Official Site, 2004.
6
Wikipedia Malcolm X, 2006
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1960s, created the right moment for Black artists to be included, indeed embraced in the
struggle for equality (Hills, in Nesbett & Du Bois, 2000).
In the September 1963 edition of Ebony, (a magazine for African American
readers), Lawrence was "hailed by many as the dean of current Negro painters" (Hills, in
Nesbett & Du Bois 2000, p. 182). Shortly afterwards he was approached by a Civil
Rights group, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee,7 (founded in 1960), to
chair a fund raising art committee. He followed this path for a short while but in April
1964, Lawrence took a break from his teaching and political tensions by traveling on a
preplanned trip to Africa (Hills, in Nesbett & Du Bois, 2000).
Visiting Nigeria for eight months with his wife Gwendolyn, Lawrence produced a
series of eight tempera paintings by the same name. The rich imagery he encountered
appears in this work: the busy market place with its animals, stalls selling food, fabric
and variety of items. His work is filled with vibrancy of color and pattern, typical of his
style and earlier work (Hills, in Nesbett and Du Bois 2000, p. 183).
Returning to the United States Lawrence again became aware of the constant
political upheaval around him—the assassination of Malcolm X on February 25, 1965,
the ongoing protest against U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, the assassination of
Martin Luther King, Jr, in 1968, and a continuation of urban rioting. Aware not only of
his position as a Black artist with a social conscience but of a growing ambivalence and
somewhat antagonistic attitude towards him amongst students at Pratt Institute, Lawrence
made his position clear. He explained in an interview in 1982 that although he felt he was
seen in a position of authority, as if he had escaped the difficult issues they had to face,
he had in fact experienced a great deal himself:
What I found is that you could accept this rebellion intellectually, but emotionally
you couldn't. You'd want to tell people, " Look I've been through something too,
and so have the people before my generation, and they're the ones who made it
possible for you to have this kind of protest (Lawrence quoted by Hills, in Nesbett
& DuBois, 2000, p. 186).
7
TheStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee SNCC was one of the primary institutions of the
American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged in April of 1960 from student meetings led by
Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. SNCC began with an $800 grant from the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Some of the original student members were organizers of sitins at segregated lunch counters in the southern United States. Its purpose then was to coordinate the use of
nonviolent direct action to attack segregation and other forms of racism (Wikipedia, 2006, para.1).
92
Unlike many African Americans who were demonstrating and fighting for a Black
separatist and nationalist ideology, Lawrence believed in what he described as "the
American experience." In an interview with Carroll Greene Jr. in 1968, he said:
I like to think that I've expanded my interest to include not just the Negro theme
but man generally and maybe if this speaks through the Negro I think this is valid
also…I would like to think of it as dealing with all people, the struggle of man to
always better his condition and to move forward…I think all people aspire, all
people strive towards a better human condition, a better mental condition
generally (Lawrence interview with Greene, Oct. 28, 1968).
#18 Self-Portrait (1977) (Figure 15)
http://www.whitney.org/jacoblawrence/art/self_portrait.html
In September 1970, after having been a visiting artist the previous Spring,
Lawrence was offered a full professorship at the University of Washington in Seattle. He
accepted this and moved to Seattle with his wife, Gwendolyn
(Nesbett
& DuBois, 2000).
During the next 30 years Lawence continued to establish himself as a dynamic
force in the world of African American art. He continued to teach and make his art,
creating several more series as drawings as well as in paint and he recreated older ones as
silk screen prints. Lawrence also created murals for commissions and spent time being
involved in dozens of solo exhibits, receiving many honorary doctorates and awards from
universities and colleges all over the country.
In the Fall of 1998 Lawrence was diagnosed with lung cancer and after
undergoing radiation and chemotherapy passed away in 2000 (Nesbett & DuBois, 2000).
Lawrence in an interview (1998) (Figure 16)
http://www.landsvideo.com/J_Lawrence.htm.
Speaking in a 1998 interview about the legacy of his work
Lawrence said:
I'd like to be remembered as a person that has made a contribution, that has received
something from others and that I would hope to pass along to younger people, the
younger generation, I'm not just speaking about the "Black Experience, "I'm speaking
93
about the 'Human Experience,' I'd like to be remembered that way" (Lawrence, L & S
Video, Inc., 1998).
And Lawrence will be remembered for just that.
94
References
Bolden, T. (2004). Wake up our souls: A celebration of Black American artists. New
York: Harry N. Abrahms, Inc.
Boris, J. (2001). Jacob Lawrence, New York: ArtEd Series.
Bearden, R. (1993). History of African-American artists, New York: Pantheon Books.
Bearden, R. and H. Henderson, (1972). Six Black masters of American art , Garden City,
New York: Doubleday.
Davis, O. (1998). Jacob Lawrence, The glory of expression,
. Chappaqua: NY. L &S Video, Inc.
Freeman, L. (1998). Jacob Lawrence, The glory of expression,
Chappaqua: NY. L & S Video, Inc.
Lawrence interview with Carroll Greene Jr, in Hills, (2000). Jacob Lawrence's paintings
during the protest years of the 1960s (pp. 175–191) in Nesbett, P.T.& DuBois M.
(2000) Over the line: The art and life of Jacob Lawrence, Washington D.C.:
University of Washington Press.
Hills, P. (2000). Jacob Lawrence's paintings during the protest years of the 1960s (pp.
175–191) in Nesbett, P.T. & DuBois, M. (Eds.), Over the line: The art and life of
Jacob Lawrence, Washington D.C.: University of Washington Press.
Hutton Turner, E. (2000). The education of Jacob Lawrence in Nesbett, P.T. & DuBois,
M.(Eds.), Over the line: The art and life of Jacob Lawrence (pp. 97–109).
Washington D.C.: University of Washington Press.
King Hammond, L. (2000). Inside-Outside, Uptown- Downtown: Jacob Lawrence and
the aesthetic ethos of the Harlem working class, in Nesbett, P.T. & DuBois, M.
(Eds.), Over the line: The art and life of Jacob Lawrence (pp. 67- 85).
Washington D.C.: University of Washington Press.
Nesbett, P.T. & DuBois, M. (Eds.). (2000). Over the line: The art and life of Jacob
Lawrence:Introduction, chronology: Life–reception, (pp.11-65). Washington
D.C.: University of Washington Press.
Nesbett, P.T. & DuBois, M. (2000). Over the line: The art and life of Jacob Lawrence:
Harriet Tubman series, (pp.303- 306). Washington D.C. University of
Washington Press.
Patton, S.F. (1998). African- American art, New York: Oxford University Press.
95
Phillips Collection, Jacob Lawrence, (n.d.). Retrieved August 24th, 2005 from
http://www.phillipscollection.org/education/ArtoftheCityKit/Jacob%20lawrence
Powell, R.J. Harmonizer of chaos, (2000). in Nesbett, P.T. & DuBois, M. Over the line:
The art and life of Jacob Lawrence, (pp. 147–163). Washington D.C.: University
of Washington Press.
Wheat, E. H. (1986). Jacob Lawrence: American Painter, Seattle, Seattle Art Museum.
Web References:
Driskell, D. (n.d.). Narratives of African American art and identity, (p.2.).
Retrieved October 31, 2005 from
http://www.artgallery.umd.edu/driskell/exhibition/sec2/lawr_j_01.htm
Horsley, C.B. (n.d.). Over the line: the art and life of Jacob Lawrence, the City Review.
Retrieved October 31, 2005 from http://www.thecityreview.com/jacob.html
Hunter-Gault, C. (2000). Remembering Jacob Lawrence, PBS, online newshour,
interview June 13, 2000. Retrieved August, 24th, 2005 from
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/remember/jan-june00/lawrence_6-13.html.
L & S Video, Inc. (1997–2005).
Permission for use of following photographic images from Jacob Lawrence: The
Glory of Expression (1998) kindly granted by Linda Freeman, Principal, Creative
Producer and Director of L & S Video, Inc.
- Lawrence in his studio.
- Lawrence in an interview
Marcus Garvey, The Official Site, Retrieved February 22, 2006 from
http://www.marcusgarvey.com/
Modern American Poetry: About the 1963 Birmingham Bombings, (n.d.). Retrieved
November 20, 2005 from
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Africans in America: People & events
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895). Retrieved October 31, 2005 from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1539.html.
Sears Archives, (2004). What is the Julian Rosenwald Foundation? Retrieved August
24, 2006 from
http://www.searsarchives.com/people/questions/rosenwaldfoundation.htm
96
The Life of Frederick Douglass Series, The Life of Frederic Douglass #21(1939).
Retrieved August 24, 2005 from
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/arts/images/focus_04.jpg.
The Life of Harriet Tubman, The Life of Harriet Tubman Series, No. 7 (1940).
Retrieved on August 24, 2005 from
http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/saltz/Images/saltz1-23-2.jpg.
Whitney Museum of American Art, (2002). Jacob Lawrence: Picturing narratives, para
3. Retrieved August, 24, 2005 from
http://www.whitney.org/jacoblawrence/meet/picturing_narratives.html.
Whitney Museum of American Art, (2002). Jacob Lawrence: Exploring stories: Family
and community, Retrieved August 24, 2005 from
http://www.whitney.org/jacoblawrence/art/famcom.html.
Wikipedia (2006). Brown v. Board of Education, para 1. Retrieved November 20, 2005
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education
Wikipedia (2005). Guggenheim Fellowship, para 1. Retrieved on November 21, 2005
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guggenheim_fellowship.
Wikipedia, (2006). Harriet Tubman, (para.3), Retrieved October 31, 2005 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman
Wikipedia, (n.d.). John Brown, (para 2-3). Retrieved October 31, 2005 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_%28Trial%29.
Wikipedia, (2006). Malcolm X, Retrieved February 22, 2006 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X
Wikipedia, Touissant L'Ouverture, (2006). Retrieved October 31, 2005 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_L'Ouverture.
97
Figures:
1. Lawrence in his studio. Retrieved January 12, 2006 from
http://www.landsvideo.com/J_Lawrence.htm
2. This is Harlem (1943). Gouache on paper (5 3/8" x 22 11/16").
Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution.
Copyright (c) 2005 The Estate of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights
Society (ARS), New York, NY.
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Cla
ssroom/LawrenceForKids.pdf
3. General Toussaint L'Ouverture, (1986). Panel 20, tempera on white paper, Retrieved
January 12, 2006
http://www.artgallery.umd.edu/driskell/exhibition/sec2/lawr_j_01.htm
4. Frederick Douglass series No. 21, (1938-39). Casein tempera on gessoed hardboard,
Hampton University Art Museum, Hampton, Virginia. Retrieved on January 12,
2006 web page from http://www.speedmuseum.org:
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa302.htm
5.
The Life of Harriet Tubman Series, Panel No. 7
Harriet worked as water girl to field hands. She also worked at plowing, carting,
and hauling logs. Nesbett & DuBois, (2000, p. 303).
http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/saltz/saltz1-23-2.asp
6. The Life of John Brown (1941). Panel 22 John Brown was found "guilty of treason
and murder in the 1st degree. He was hanged in Charles Town, Virginia.
Retrieved December 2, 1859." Nesbett and DuBois, (2000, p. 316).
http://www.queensmuseum.org/education/ps144/gallery/jlimage-no22.html
7. Migration of the Negro, Panel 1 (1940/41) Casein tempera on hardboard
(12" x 14"). The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. Copyright (c) 2005 The
Estate of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York,
NY.
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Cla
ssroom/LawrenceForKids.pdf
8. Home Chores (1945). Gouache on paper (29 1/2" x 21 1/16").
The Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Copyright (c) 2005
The Estate of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New
York, NY.
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Cla
ssroom/LawrenceForKids.pdf
98
9. Tombstones (1942). Gouache on paper (28 3/4" x 22 1/2"). Whitney Museum of
American Art, New York City. Copyright (c) 2005 The Estate of Gwendolyn
Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY.
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Clas
sroom/LawrenceForKids.pdf
10. Summer Street Scene (1948) Egg tempera on hardboard (20 3/8" x 24 1/4").
Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, NY. Copyright (c) 2005 The
Estate of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York,
NY.
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Cla
ssroom/LawrenceForKids.pdf
11. Barber Shop (1946). Gouache on paper (21 1/8" x 29 3/8").
Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio. Copyright (c) 2005 The Estate of Gwendolyn
Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY.
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Cla
ssroom/LawrenceForKids.pdf
12. The Library (1960) Egg tempera on hardboard (24" x 29 7/8").
National Museum of American Art. Copyright (c) 2005 The Estate of Gwendolyn
Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, NY.
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Cla
ssroom/LawrenceForKids.pdf
13. Builders—19 Men (1979)
Gouache and tempera on paper (30" x 22"). Private Collection.
Copyright (c) 2005 The Estate of Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence/Artists Rights
Society (ARS), New York, NY.
http://www.anyonecanflyfoundation.org/art_with_kids/From_Harlem_to_the_Cla
ssroom/LawrenceForKids.pdf
14. Strike (1949). Egg tempera on hardboard (20" x 24"). Howard University Gallery of
Art, Washington, DC.
http://www.founders.howard.edu/hucollection/LawrenceJacobStrike.htm
15. #18 Self-Portrait (1977). Gouache on paper (23" x 31"). National Academy of
Design, New York, Retrieved on January 15, 2006 from
http://www.whitney.org/jacoblawrence/art/self_portrait.html
16. Lawrence in an interview (1998). Retrieved January, 15, 2006 from:
http://www.landsvideo.com/J_Lawrence.htm.
99