Jacob Lawrence

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Jacob Lawrence (1917 2000) African American
Artist
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Jacob Lawrence Self Portrait1977
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Jacob Lawrence African American Artist

• Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1917, Jacob
  Lawrence emerged as one of America's leading
  figurative artists and the first to document the
  history of African Americans art.
• Lawrence and his family moved to Harlem in 1924,
  where he experienced the vibrancy of black
  intellectual, cultural, and artistic life in what
  was seen as the Harlem Renaissance.

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• He became well known at the young age of 21 for
  his "Toussant L'Ouverture Series" (1937), a
  41-painting collection that depicts the
  successful Haitian slave rebellion.
• At the age of 24, he became the first African
  American whose work was included in the permanent
  collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art.

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• Lawrence considered himself both an artist and
  educator and used his art to tell stories about
  black history -- stories that were overlooked in
  the typical "American History" taught in schools.
  
• For example, Lawrence produced a 40-panel series
  on "The Life of Harriet Tubman" (1940), who in
  the 1800s helped hundreds of slaves find passage
  to freedom in the North through the Underground
  Railroad.
• His 60-painting "Migration Series" (1941) traces
  the mass movement of African Americans from the
  South to the North following World War I. These
  series use both images and detailed titles to
  create a narrative history of the event.

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• In 1970, Lawrence and his wife, painter Gwendolyn
  Knight, moved to Seattle when Lawrence accepted
  an appointment as Professor in the School of Art
  at the University of Washington.
• He retired in 1980 and continued to serve as
  Emeritus Professor until his death in 2000 at the
  age of 83.
• The Henry Art Gallery, located in the Allen
  Center in New York, currently exhibits a
  spectacular two-piece Jacob Lawrence print -- New
  York in Transit I/II.
• Lawrence based this 1998 screen print on his
  design for the 36-foot-long mosaic mural of that
  name in the Times Square and 42nd Street Subway
  Station in New York City.

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Free Clinic 1937 Tempera on paper
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The Migration 1941 Casein tempera on hardboard
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Street in Mbari 1964 Gouache on paper
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The Street 1957 Casein on paper
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The Visitors 1959 Egg tempera on
hardboard
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One student wrote after seeing the paintings of
Jacob Lawrence Jacob Lawrence was a great
painter. He is my hero because, throughout his
life, he did what he like best, which was
painting. His artwork said a lot about being
black in America. Than you, Mr. Lawrence.
What can you say about why we should know about
the work of Jacob Lawrence?
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Where can you find art by Lawrence Jacob?
  WEB site for staff and students on Jacob
Lawrence www.jacobandgwenlawrence.org

• Art Institute of Chicago
• Butler Institute of Art in Ohio
• Dallas Museum of Art
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Museum of Fine Arts in Houston
• National Gallery of Art in Washington 
• Article on Lawrence Jacob on PBS online
• Preview of the Story Printer by Jacob Lawrence
• WEB site on Gwen Jacob Lawrence
• Pictorial slide show of The Great Migration