Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence (1917 - 2000)
Born on September 1917, in Atlantic City, NJ. Grew up in New York City's Harlem neighborhood during the Harlem Renaissance
Attended the Harlem Community Art Center and was taught by famed sculptor Augusta Savage
Was hired as an artist for the Works Progress Administration (part of the New Deal), and served in the Coast Guard during WWII
Is known for painting Black American life in the dynamic cubism style, often in a multi-panel series based on historic topics like the American Revolution and The Great Migration
The PBS News Hour featured a story about the Migration Series by Lawrence in 2015. The Museum of Modern Art displayed all 60 panels of the series in a 2015 exhibit titled One Way Ticket. You can view all 60 panels and read their descriptions here, and hear Bryan Stevenson talk about the series here. Jacob Lawrence talked about his motivation about painting the Migration Series, and can read more about the Great Migration here. In 2020, The Peabody Essex Museum hosted an exhibit of Lawrence's series about the American Revolution, titled The American Struggle. The PBS News Hour featured a story on this series in 2020.
What do you notice? ✏️ What do you wonder? ✏️ What do you like or dislike?
The Migrants Arrived in Great Numbers
1940 - 1941, Casein tempera on hardboardMuseum of Modern Art, New York
Jacob Lawrence 9:26.pdf