Art of the African World
Jacob Lawrence: One of the World's Most Preeminent Artists
by Shaniece A. Bell
The March
Jacob Lawrence, a native of Atlantic City, N. J., has achieved extraordinary
international acclaim for his narrative paintings that show the experiences
of African Americans and represent the human concerns that these experiences
create. During the Harlem Depression, Lawrence began painting at
the age of 15 while participating in workshops at the Harlem Art Center
with painter Charles Alston. In 1941, The Migration of the Negro
series was showcased at The Museum of Modern Art, making Lawrence the first
African-American artist to have works in the permanent collection.
In addition to painting several series and receiving numerous honors, including
the 1990 National Medal of Arts, Lawrence also taught art at the University
of Washington before retiring as professor emeritus in 1983.
Deception
The influence of the Depression is seen in his early paintings of run-down
and crowded quarters, which represented everyday life in Harlem.
Stories about African-American heroes also influenced Lawrence. In
1938, Lawrence completed a portrait series of Haitian revolutionary Toussaint
L'Ouverture that comprises 41 paintings in tempera on paper and shows his
narrative serial format, his use of flat, two-dimensional forms and his
concern with the human struggle.
Man With Birds
Lawrence also painted narrative and descriptive scenes from the slavery
period and civil rights movement such as his portrait series of Frederick
Douglass, Harriet Tubman and John Brown where he uses steep, skewed perspectives
and sharp, angular forms to convey the energy, movement and tension of
their narratives.
The art collection portrayed in this article is courtesy of the
artist and the Francine Seders Gallery in Seattle, Washington.
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