Artist: Jacob Lawrence (1917 - 2000)
Nationality: American
Movement: Modernism
Media: Painting
Influences:

Biography:
Born in Harlem, New York City, Jacob Lawrence was trained at the Harlem Art Workshop under Charles Alston. He also attended the American Artists’ School in 1937 and worked as a painter for the WPA Federal Art Project. Lawrence painted historical works that depicted the lives of famous African American figures such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. After serving in the Coast Guard during World War II, he began creating paintings to support the civil rights movement. Gradually his later work developed into more abstract concepts.

Artworks in Museum Collections: (100)
Click the artwork titles below to see actual examples of artwork or works of art relevant to works by Jacob Lawrence.

Museum of Fine Arts -
© Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, courtesy of the Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation ; Jacob Lawrence,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art -
Pool Parlor, 1942 Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917-2000)Gouache on paper; H. 31, W. 22-3/4 in. (78.7
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Jacob Lawrence - Builders #4 n.d. gouache on paper New Orleans Museum of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - They were very poor 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Man with Flower 1954 tempera on masonite Norton Museum of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Marionettes 1952 tempera on panel High Museum of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The Wedding 1948 tempera on board The Art Institute of Chicago American
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Jacob Lawrence - Forward 1967 tempera on panel North Carolina Museum of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Gamblers c. 1954 tempera on gesso pan Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester American
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JAcob Lawrence - Occupational Therapy No. 2 1950 gouache on paper The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Virginia Interior 1942 gouache on ivory wov The Art Institute of Chicago American
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Jacob Lawrence - And the migrants kept coming 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Confrontation at the Bridge 1975 silkscreen Hofstra Museum American
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Jacob Lawrence - Study for Painting - The Builders 1985 crayon, pencil Arkansas Arts Center American
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Jacob Lawrence - John Brown's Arsenal 1941 gouache on panel The Maier Museum of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Living conditions were better in the North 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The migration gained momentum 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Daybreak - A Time to Rest 1967 tempera on hardboard National Gallery of Art American
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Jacob Eichholtz - Jacob Leman c. 1808 oil on wood National Gallery of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Summer Street Scene in Harlem 1948 tempera on gesso pan Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester American
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Jacob Lawrence - The migrants arrived in great numbers. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The trains were packed continually with migrants. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - In the North the Negro had better educational facilities. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Housing for the Negroes was a very difficult problem. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - They also worked in large numbers on the railroad. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Chester Harding - Amos Lawrence c. 1845 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art American
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James Bard - Steamer "St. Lawrence" 1850 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art American
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Lady Peel - Sir Thomas Lawrence 1827 oil on canvas The Frick Collection British
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Jacob Lawrence - 1920's. . .The Migrants Cast Their Ballots 1974 silkscreen Corcoran Gallery of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - In every home people who had not gone North met and tried to decide if they should go North or not. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Salomon de Bray - The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence 1652 oil on canvas Los Angeles County Museum of Art Dutch
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Gilbert Stuart - Lawrence Reid Yates 1793-1794 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - They arrived in great numbers into Chicago, the gateway of the West. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - One of the largest race riots occurred in East St. Louis. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - And people all over the South began to discuss this great movement. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The Negro was the largest source of labor to be found after all others had been exhausted. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Gherardo di Jacopo Starnina - A Bishop Saint and Saint Lawrence c. 1404-1407 tempera and gold on Los Angeles County Museum of Art Italian
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Gherardo di Jacopo Starnina - A Bishop Saint and Saint Lawrence c. 1404-1407 tempera and gold on Los Angeles County Museum of Art Italian
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Roy De Forest - The Dipolar Girls Take a Voyage on the St. Lawrence 1970 acrylic, polymer and Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester American
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Gentile da Fabriano - Madonna and Child, with Sts. Lawrence and Julian c. 1423-25 tempera on panel The Frick Collection Italian
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Jacob Andreas Friderich (Fridrich) Caspar Jacob Huth 17th - 18th century
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Jacob Lawrence - Although the Negro was used to lynching, he foung this an opportune time for him to leave where one had occurred. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The Negro press was also influential in urging the people to leave the South. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The railroad stations in the South were crowded with people leaving for the North. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Industries attempted to board their labor in quarters that were oftentimes very unhealthy. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael A Cabin on the Hill oil on panel 17th century
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Thomas Lawrence Engravings from the choicest Works of Sir Thomas Lawrence (London: Henry Graves & Co., [ca. 1846] book with mezzotint engravings 1846
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Jacob Maris Harbor of Amsterdam oil on canvas 1872
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Jacob Lawrence - In many of the communities the Negro press was read continually because of its attitude and its encouragement of the movement. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Among the social conditions that existed which was partly the cause of the migration was the injustice done to the Negroes in the courts. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Zanobi Strozzi - Saints Nicolas, Lawrence and John the Baptist c. 1450 tempera and gold lea The Hyde Collection Italian
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John Wesley Jarvis - Jacob Houseman 1809 oil on wood panel The Detroit Institute of Art American
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Francisco Antolinez y Sarabia - Jacob and Rachel 1665-70 oil on canvas The Detroit Institute of Art Spanish
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Thomas Lawrence Nature, plate 1 in the book, Engravings from the choicest Works of Sir Thomas Lawrence (London: Henry Graves & Co., [ca. 1846] mezzotint engraving 1835
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Jacob Maris View of Old Delft oil on canvas circa 1865
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Jacob Lawrence - One of the main forms of social and recreational activities in which the migrants indulged occurred in the church. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - Child labor and a lack of education was one of the other reasons for people wishing to leave their homes. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The labor agent who had been sent South by Northern industry was a very familiar person in the Negro counties. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
Museum of Fine Arts -
Jan Albertsz Rootius, Dutch, 1615-1674 Portrait of a Boy Oil on panel 127 x 101.6
Museum of Fine Arts -
Follower of John Constable, British, 1776-1837 A Heath Oil on canvas 82 x 95.5 cm
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Augustus Saint-Gaudens - Charles Stewart Butler and Lawrence Smith Butler 1880-1881 plaster National Gallery of Art American
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Jacob von Dorner Dutch Landscape 18th - 19th century
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Jacob Lawrence - Among one of the last groups to leave the South was the Negro professional who was forced to follow his clientele to make a living. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The railroad stations were at times so over-packed with people leaving that special guards had to be called in to keep order. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
Museum of Fine Arts -
Unidentified artist, British, 19th century Cottage with Cows and Cowherds by a River Oil on
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Andrew Lawrence La Conversation Engraving 1742
Museum of Fine Arts -
Bernardus Johannes Blommers, Dutch, 1845-1914 Dunes in Holland Watercolor on paper Sight: 27.6 x 45.1
The Metropolitan Museum of Art -
Portrait of a Man Sir Thomas Lawrence (British, 1769-1830)Oil on canvas; 50 3/8 x 40
The Metropolitan Museum of Art -
John Julius Angerstein (1735-1823) Sir Thomas Lawrence (British, 1769-1830)Oil on canvas; 36 x 28 in.
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Gilbert Stuart - Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (Mrs. Lawrence Lewis) 1804 oil on canvas National Gallery of Art American
Museum of Fine Arts -
Studio of Sir Godfrey (Gottried) Kneller, British, 1646-1723 Portrait of a Woman (said to be
Museum of Fine Arts -
Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, Dutch, 1824-1903 A Windmill in Holland late 19th century Watercolor on cardboard
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Amedeo Modigliani - Max Jacob (1876-1944) c. 1916-1917 oil on canvas Cincinnati Art Museum Italian
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Hendrick ter Brugghen - Jacob reproaching Laban 1627 oil on canvas The National Gallery, London Dutch
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Nicolas-Guy Brenet - Isaac Blessing Jacob 1768 oil on canvas Los Angeles County Museum of Art French
The Metropolitan Museum of Art -
Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence, ca. 1175-1180; Romanesque English; Made in Canterbury, KentPot-metal glass, vitreous paint;
Museum of Fine Arts -
Johan Frederik Thaulow, Norwegian, 1847-1906 River View Oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:
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Jacob Lawrence - Another of the social causes of the migrants' leaving was that at times they did not feel safe, or it was not the best thing to be found on the streets late at night. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
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Jacob Lawrence - The World War had caused a great shortage in Northern Industry and also citizens of foreign countries were returning home. 1940-41 tempera on gesso on The Museum of Modern Art American
Museum of Fine Arts -
Jacob (Jacques) de Gheyn, Sr., Dutch, 1565-1629 Clump of Trees in the Wind about 1605
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Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael Untitled Oil on panel 17th century
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Jacob de Gheyn II Title page to the Passion of Christ, a set of fourteen plates engraved by Zacharius Dolendo and Jacob de Gheyn Engraving 16th - 17th century
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Andrew Lawrence La Conversation Red chalk and graphite 1742
Museum of Fine Arts -
Georges Michel, French, 1763-1843 Windmill on a Bluff Oil on paper mounted on canvas 55
Museum of Fine Arts -
Johan Frederik Thaulow, Norwegian, 1847-1906 Abbeville Oil on canvas 73.5 x 92.5 cm (28 15/16
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Lawrence Beall Smith Skaters Lithograph 1939
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Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael Two Men in a Boat Etching 17th century
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Lawrence Beall Smith Frolic Lithograph 20th century
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Lawrence Beall Smith Museum Visitor Lithograph 1939
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Lawrence Beall Smith Solitude Lithograph 1940
Museum of Fine Arts -
Jean Léon Gérôme, French, 1824-1904 Oasis about 1857 Oil on canvas 65.1 x 82 cm
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Jean-Jacques Forty - Jacob Recognizing the Robe of His Son Joseph c. 1791 oil on canvas Minneapolis Institute of Arts French
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Jacob Pins Gossip Woodblock ca. mid 20th century
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Christoph Amberger - Portrait of Hans Jacob Fugger 1541 oil on panel Los Angeles County Museum of Art German
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Claude Lorrain - Landscape with Jacob and Laban and His Daughters 1659 Oil on copper Norton Simon Museum French
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Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn - Jacob Haaringh (The Young Haaringh) 1655 etching and drypoint Cincinnati Art Museum Dutch
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Rembrandt Peale - Portrait of Jacob Gerard Koch c. 1817 oil on canvas Los Angeles County Museum of Art American
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Paul Gauguin - Portrait of Jacob Meyer de Haan 1889 oil on wood The Museum of Modern Art French
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Hiram Powers - Portrait of Judge Jacob Burnet 1837-41 marble Cincinnati Art Museum American
The Metropolitan Museum of Art -
Mountain Torrent, probably 1670s Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628-29–1682)Oil on canvas; 21 1/4 x

Artnews Articles and Exhibition Information: (30)
Click on any of the links below to read about artnews or exhibitions related to Lawrence

Killarney Art Gallery: John Lawrence: A Glorious Field of Poppies
John is a painter of light and colour, who likes to work in front of his subject. His landscapes have captured both the stunning beauty of Ireland’s countryside and the admiration of collectors and art lovers around the world. His recent pa...
Lawrence Gallery Portland: Amanda Dunbar, Oils
The paintings depict the tropical richness of the Fiji landscapes. Dunbar was captivated by all she saw and experienced on her travels. A rising star in the art world, Amanda Dunbar’s amazing talent has captivated thousands of art fans, incl...
Lawrence Gallery Portland: New Works by Painter Ann Ruttan
Patron’s of Ruttan’s work will be dazzled by her new collection as they are revealed in the main gallery on 1st Thursday, September 1st. Those seeking Ruttan’s work for the first time, should look forward to large scale canvases which mirror t...
Neuberger Museum of Art: Recent Acquisitions: Selections from the Lawrence Gussman Collection of African Art
These works will be included in a major exhibition of central African art that will travel to the Israel Museum, the
Lawrence Street Gallery: Abstract Odyssey: Anita Boulan-Stromberg and Sri Guha
"My love of nature combined with my interest in color and texture lead me to create paintings and prints that can be described as abstract landscapes. Some are purely about color and design, while others reflect feelings. My latest endeavor is cre...
Lawrence Street Gallery: Title: 32 - Celebrating a New Space with Gallery Fundraiser
To learn more about Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit visit their web site at .

The 32 artists of the Lawrence Street Gallery create unique artistic pieces in a wide range of media including ...
Physics Room: 'Through my repeated attempts to repair the window, I have developed pneumonia' by Robert Hood and Simon Lawrence
Their Physics Room project is an extension of the artists' collaborative practice and interest in narrative, with the addition of computer aided video pieces and further functional sculptural elements exploring the neurosis of the modern-day o...
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: Directions--Ron Mueck

Ron Muecks sculptures, though inanimate, seem alive---eyes are wet, vessels swell with blood, and you can almost feel the heat and breath emanating off the body, says Lawrence. The skewed sizes of the figures give this realism a psychological e...
Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg: Bent & Broken Shafts of Light Lawrence Weiner
Lawrence Weiner's material is language. For him, language serves as the universal and infinitely versatile medium for the communication of an artistic intention He always uses language concretely, never metaphorically. When he says stone, wate...
Lawrence Street Gallery: Two Solo Exhibitions of Paintings by Patrice Erickson and Margaret Nern
Patrice Erickson's pieces are rendered in oil using traditional painting techniques. "Working in a contemporary realistic manner challenges me both technically and emotionally. I strive to present the viewer with recognizable imagery that suggests...
Guggenheim Museum, Berlin: Lawrence Weiner: AFTER ALL/NACH ALLES
. His art can literally be disseminated by word of mouth. A work can be made or merely spelled out on a museum wall, but it can also be read in a book or heard if uttered aloud. In a radical restructuring of the traditional artist/viewer relations...
Lawrence Gallery Portland: Yuri Tremler and Jacek Rudnicki OIls
Yuri Tremler's striking and spontaneous palette clearly expresses a gamut of emotional states and moods. Painted with the accuracy of a designer and the delicacy of a colorist, his works both inspire and calm. He uses the female form and contrasts...
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts: Jacob Lawrence: Three Series of Prints – Genesis, Hiroshima, and Toussaint L’Ouverture
Beginning with his first published print in 1963, Jacob Lawrence produced a body of prints that is both highly dramatic and intensely personal. In his graphic work, as in his paintings, Lawrence turned to the lessons of history and to his own expe...
Memphis Brooks Museum: In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"It is an honor for the Brooks to be selected as a venue for this important and moving Smithsonian exhibition," said Kaywin Feldman, Director of the Brooks. "We hope that no child in our community will miss this unique opportunity to experience Ki...
ASU Art Museum, Nelson Fine Arts Center: Rhapsody: Selections from Valley Collections
Rhapsody includes works by Emma Amos, Benny Andrews, Radcliffe Bailey, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Romare Bearden, John Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, Michael Ray Charles, Robert Colescott, Renée Cox, Charles Gaines, Sam Gilliam, Eugene Grigsby, ...
Minneapolis Institute of Arts: An Acre of Art
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Kunstlerhaus Cinema: MOVED PICTURES OF LAWRENCE WEINER
Weiner’s filmmaking represents a continuous line of concerns in his oeuvre. Capturing reality in moved pictures in context with his statements and linguistic structures, the films are cha...
Binney and Smith Gallery, Banana Factory: Native American Potter Lawrence Namoki
“Lawrence uses only clay native to Hopi land, natural dyes for the painted surface of his works and the traditional Hopi firing process using sheep dung,” says Banana Factory Director Diane LaBelle. “Anyone who visits the Banana Factory while he’...
Tullie House Museum and Art Services: Eyemusic, the Creators of ColourDome: Fabulous Sound Machines
All of the individual sound sculptures are framed in a world of colour created by artist Peter Jones and composers Lawrence Casserley and Simon Desorgher. Other contributors include Johannes Bergmark, Hugh Davies, Max Eastley, Dan Knight and Will ...
Cleveland Museum of Art: Jacob Lawrence's Toussaint
Lawrence, who moved to Harlem as a teenager in 1930, was influenced and stimulated by the artists, writers, and philosophers of the Harlem Renaissance, among them Romare Bearden, Langston Hughes, and W. E. B. DuBois, who fostered pride...
Norton Museum of Art: Jacob Lawrence: The Toussaint L'Ouverture Series
Born in 1917 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Jacob Lawrence was raised in Harlem where he not only witnessed the poverty and prejudice that most African-Americans faced in th...
Tacoma Art Museum: Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art
Evans, who grew up in Georgia and South Carolina, became interested in art when he began visiting museums while he was in the U.S. Navy during the ...
Cincinnati Art Museum: Art in the Age of Queen Victoria: Treasures from the Royal Academy of Arts Permanent Collection
Organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London and touring with the assistance of the Denver Art Museum. Supported by an ...
Corning Museum of Glass: Museum Film Wins Best of Show and Gold Awards
Dreams Into Glass won the Best of Show Grand Award for best informational production. 1999 Grand Award winners were selected by The New York Festivals' international board of judges from the highest scoring Gold WorldMedalists in the competiti...
ArtSpace: GLOW: Reiko Aoyagi, Phillipa Lawrence, Artstation
Focussing on the possibilities of these elements either metaphorically or literally, the artists will work with a range of materials to produce large scale, site specific installations involving 600 gold-leaf covered light bulbs, huge inflatable ...
Addison Gallery of American Art: To Conserve a Legacy American Art from Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Additional support has been generously provided by The Henry Luce Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the LEF Foundation, the Greentree Foundation, the Joseph Harrison Jackson Fo...
Oakville Galleries: Weathervane: Curated by Karen Love
The exhibition features works by Marlene Creates, Paterson Ewen, Rodney Graham, Tania Kitchell, Mark Lewis, Richard Rhodes, Seifollah Samadian, Alan Storey, T & T (Tyler Brett and Tony Romano), Diana Thater, Lawrence Weiner and Chris Welsby. ...
Whitney Museum of American Art: The Whitney Biennial 2002 Opens in New York
The 113 artists and collaborative teams in the exhibition represent a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and sensibilities. Established artists, like sculptor Kiki Smith, painter Vija Celmins, filmmaker Ken Jacobs, and composer ...
Art Gallery of Ontario: Present Tense 23: Jonathan Monk
Monk was born in 1972 in Leicester, England.Spanning painting, performance, installation, photography, and video, and alluding to a wide variety of both autobiographical and art historical references, the work of Jonathan Monk defies categorisa...
William Havu Gallery: Three Dimensions: Lawrence Argent, Stephen Daly, Mary Bates Neubauer and David Mazza
Stephen Daly is the area head of the sculpture department at the University of Texas, Austin. We will be showing his large cast bronze piece "Controller" as well as a selection of other works. Daly works in many mediums including cast aluminum, ...

Further Artwork and Information:

Jacob Lawrence Online
Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence: Exploring Stories
Jacob Lawrence and Expressions of Freedom
JACOB LAWRENCE b
JACOB LAWRENCE
Jacob Lawrence: Storyteller (Getty artsednet)
Amazon.com: Books: Complete Jacob Lawrence [Published in English]
Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence, icon of African American art, dies

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