Celebrating Black History Month with a Spotlight on Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence was born September 7, 1917, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Following the divorce of his parents, he and his two younger siblings were put into foster care in Philadelphia. When Jacob turned 13 he moved to New York City where he reestablished a connection with his mother. His love for the arts began when he and his siblings were put into after-school classes in an institution called Utopia Children’s Center.
Jacob Lawrence standing next to one of his paintings which was displayed in the Museum of Modern Art, New York
At the age of 16, Jacob dropped out of school but continued with his passion for art. Sculptor Augusta Savage helped provide him with a scholarship to the Americans Art School, where he studied and worked with other artists such as Charles Alston and Henry Bannarn. Jacob was the first artist to be trained through the African American Community in Harlem.
The “hard, bright, brittle” challenges that Harlem faced during the Great Depression was what urged Jacob to use bright colors, different shapes, and patterns in his paintings. His paintings were dedicated to African American figures like Toussiant L’Ouverture, Frederick Douglas, and Harriet Tubman, and he ultimately became the first African American artist to be nationally known.
With his use of vivid, tempera colors and attention to form and space, Jacob Lawrence expresses the lifelong difficulties of human dignity, freedom, and social consciousness. The challenges, tribulations, and triumphs of African American’s daily lives were also depicted in his paintings.
Although he died on June 9, 2000, in Seattle, Washington of lung cancer, Jacob’s paintings are still seen as an important commentator on the African American experience during the depression and civil rights movement of 1960.
Painting Titled Bar and Grill. Painted by Jacob Lawrence in 1941
Written by Keeara M. Van Der Merwe, Sports & Exercise Science
Felician University is pleased to observe Black History Month (BHM), which runs every year in the month of February. Felician will spotlight the contributions of both African American and black individuals throughout Black History Month.
