Jacob Lawrence

(1917-2000)

Jacob Lawrence’s bold, graphic paintings imbue their African American subjects with vast emotional depth. The artist’s socially engaged, narratively rich works drew on the legacies of Social Realism and Mexican muralism. Inspired by the ethos of the Harlem Renaissance, Lawrence depicted icons of Black liberation such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, and he also rendered his mid-century Harlem community at large. Lawrence became one of the first Black artists to be represented by a mainstream, downtown New York City gallery.