Jacob Lawrence was an American painter, and the most widely acclaimed African-American artist of the 20th century.
Known for producing narrative collections like the Migration Series (above), he brought the African-American experience to life using blacks and browns juxtaposed with vivid colors. While “History Painter” is an appropriate title for Lawrence, he himself preferred “Expressionist.”
‘I would describe my work as expressionist. The expressionist point of view is stressing your own feelings about something.”
Born in New Jersey in 1917, Lawrence’s childhood was marked by a series of moves, and the separation of his parents, and ended up in Harlem when he was 13. That is when his mother enrolled him in Utopia Children’s Center, which had an after-school art program. He dropped out of school at 16 to help support the family after his mother lost her job during the Great Depressionbut, but he continued to take classes at the Harlem Art Workshop with Charles Aston and frequently visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
After graduating from the American Artists School in New York, where he attended on scholarship, he received funding from the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project. He was able to get this “easel job” with the persistent help of sculptor Augusta Savage. He had already developed his own style of modernism, and began creating narrative series, painting 30 or more paintings on one subject. His quiet determination to show that African Americans, too, were a major factor in the history of the Western hemisphere.
Lawrence married Gwendolyn Knight, a sculptor and painter, in 1941. She actively supported his work, providing both assistance and criticism, and helped him compose captions for many of his series. He completed his best-known series, Migration of the Negro or simply The Migration Series, in 1941. The series was exhibited at Edith Halpert’s Downtown Gallery in 1942, making Lawrence the first African-American to join the gallery.
At the outbreak of World War II, Lawrence was drafted into the United States Coast Guard, and was assigned to be the Coast Guard artist aboard a troopship, documenting the experience of war around the world. When his tour of duty ended, Lawrence received a Guggenheim Fellowship and painted his War Series. He also landed a temporary job teaching at Black Mountain College at the invitation of Josef Albers – who became both an influencer and friend.
Known for producing narrative collections like the Migration Series (above), he brought the African-American experience to life using blacks and browns juxtaposed with vivid colors. While “History Painter” is an appropriate title for Lawrence, he himself preferred “Expressionist.”
‘I would describe my work as expressionist. The expressionist point of view is stressing your own feelings about something.”
Born in New Jersey in 1917, Lawrence’s childhood was marked by a series of moves, and the separation of his parents, and ended up in Harlem when he was 13. That is when his mother enrolled him in Utopia Children’s Center, which had an after-school art program. He dropped out of school at 16 to help support the family after his mother lost her job during the Great Depressionbut, but he continued to take classes at the Harlem Art Workshop with Charles Aston and frequently visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
After graduating from the American Artists School in New York, where he attended on scholarship, he received funding from the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project. He was able to get this “easel job” with the persistent help of sculptor Augusta Savage. He had already developed his own style of modernism, and began creating narrative series, painting 30 or more paintings on one subject. His quiet determination to show that African Americans, too, were a major factor in the history of the Western hemisphere.
Lawrence married Gwendolyn Knight, a sculptor and painter, in 1941. She actively supported his work, providing both assistance and criticism, and helped him compose captions for many of his series. He completed his best-known series, Migration of the Negro or simply The Migration Series, in 1941. The series was exhibited at Edith Halpert’s Downtown Gallery in 1942, making Lawrence the first African-American to join the gallery.
At the outbreak of World War II, Lawrence was drafted into the United States Coast Guard, and was assigned to be the Coast Guard artist aboard a troopship, documenting the experience of war around the world. When his tour of duty ended, Lawrence received a Guggenheim Fellowship and painted his War Series. He also landed a temporary job teaching at Black Mountain College at the invitation of Josef Albers – who became both an influencer and friend.
Back in New York after his stint in the south, Lawrence continued to paint. He grew depressed, however, and in 1949, he checked himself into Hillside Hospital in Queens, where he stayed for 11 months. He painted as an inpatient, and the work created during this time differs significantly from his other work, with subdued colors and people who appear resigned or in agony (right).
After leaving Hillside, Lawrence turned his attention to the theater. In 1951, he painted works based on memories of performances at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He also began teaching again. Lawrence spent the rest of his life painting, teaching and writing. He is best known for his representational compositions, full of simplified shapes, and bold colors and his use of watercolor and gouache. He says of his work “When the subject is strong, simplicity is the only way to treat it.”
Unlike nearly any other modern or contemporary artist, he always worked in series of paintings, each with a distinct theme. His influence, as the visual artist who “told” stories of the dignity, hopes and struggles of African Americans in American history, is incalculable.
“My belief is that it is most important for an artist to develop an approach and philosophy about life - if he has developed this philosophy, he does not put paint on canvas, he puts himself on canvas.”
After leaving Hillside, Lawrence turned his attention to the theater. In 1951, he painted works based on memories of performances at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He also began teaching again. Lawrence spent the rest of his life painting, teaching and writing. He is best known for his representational compositions, full of simplified shapes, and bold colors and his use of watercolor and gouache. He says of his work “When the subject is strong, simplicity is the only way to treat it.”
Unlike nearly any other modern or contemporary artist, he always worked in series of paintings, each with a distinct theme. His influence, as the visual artist who “told” stories of the dignity, hopes and struggles of African Americans in American history, is incalculable.
“My belief is that it is most important for an artist to develop an approach and philosophy about life - if he has developed this philosophy, he does not put paint on canvas, he puts himself on canvas.”
I really enjoy the work of Jacob Lawrence. I feel the emotions of his paintings, and in all of them I want to read the story until the end. I’ve never been a big fan of cubism – While I appreciate Picasso as one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, I wouldn’t pay to hang his work in my house. But I would love to hang the work of Lawrence in my living room. When I have tried to do any type of abstract art work, his work is what I am aiming for, not necessarily the style, although I really like it, but the emotion that he provokes. I think he sums it up in the following quote: “If at times my productions do not express the conventionally beautiful, there is always an effort to express the universal beauty of man’s continuous struggle to lift his social position and to add dimension to his spiritual being.”
References:
http://arthistory.about.com/cs/namesll/p/lawrence_j.htm
Jacob Lawrence. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 07:27, May 05, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/jacob-lawrence-9375562.
References:
http://arthistory.about.com/cs/namesll/p/lawrence_j.htm
Jacob Lawrence. (2014). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 07:27, May 05, 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/jacob-lawrence-9375562.