GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Jacob Lawrence, one of the most significant and influential artists of the African American experience in the mid-20th century, was born in 1917 in Atlantic City. He studied at the Harlem Art Center with painter Charles Alston and at the American Artists School. Lawrence taught at the University of Washington in Seattle, Black Mountain College in North Carolina, and at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. A leading member of the school of social realism which arose in the 1930s, he devoted his career to the portrayal, in serial fashion, of key figures drawn from African American history. They include Toussaint L'Ouverture, John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman. Lawrence's works are characterized by the stylization of figures into flat patterns, a frequent use of masks or mask-like faces, and the use of vivid color and sharp contrast, which give his social and historical themes an expressive symbolic intensity.
Adapted from
Gail Davitt, unpublished DMA material, 1986-87
NOTES
Full citation for Gen Desc: Gail Davitt, biographical essays, education files, 1986-1987.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS
AUDIO ASSETS
UMO: 13313476 Jacob Lawrence and the Urban Edge
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
UMO: 35316111 Photograph from 1959 Arnold Newman (photographer), Jacob Lawrence with "The Visitors"
WEB RESOURCES
- Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series~Explore all 60 panels of Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series at the Phillips Collection website.
- Khan Academy~Watch this video about Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- At 24 years old, Jacob Lawrence was the first African American artist to be represented by a major gallery in New York.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
set operator as or
apply to objects where constituent_id equals 3095
apply to constituents where id equals 3095
Category
rules_operator
OR
General Description
Jacob Lawrence, one of the most significant and influential artists of the African American experience in the mid-20th century, was born in 1917 in Atlantic City. He studied at the Harlem Art Center with painter Charles Alston and at the American Artists School. Lawrence taught at the University of Washington in Seattle, Black Mountain College in North Carolina, and at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. A leading member of the school of social realism which arose in the 1930s, he devoted his career to the portrayal, in serial fashion, of key figures drawn from African American history. They include Toussaint L'Ouverture, John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman. Lawrence's works are characterized by the stylization of figures into flat patterns, a frequent use of masks or mask-like faces, and the use of vivid color and sharp contrast, which give his social and historical themes an expressive symbolic intensity.
Adapted from
Gail Davitt, unpublished DMA material, 1986-87
Fun Facts
- At 24 years old, Jacob Lawrence was the first African American artist to be represented by a major gallery in New York.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series~Explore all 60 panels of Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series at the Phillips Collection website.
- Khan Academy~Watch this video about Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series.
Notes
Full citation for Gen Desc: Gail Davitt, biographical essays, education files, 1986-1987.
rules
Apply To
Constituents
id
Equals
3095
source file
artists_and_designers-0159.xml.nores