Jacob Lawrence
The artist I chose was Jacob Lawrence. He was an african american painter who was known for his paintings of the african american life style. His style of painting is known as dynamic cubism.
He was born on September 7, 1917 in Atlantic City, New Jersey and died on June 9, 2000. He was introduced to art when his mom enrolled him in art classes just to stay busy. After dropping out of school when he was only 16 he worked in laundry and at a printing plan. Lawrence continued in his art, attending classes at Harlem Art Workshop. On July 24, 1941 Jacob married Gwendolyn Knight, a painter. Lawrence’s paintings through the years slowly started to gain popularity.
Some of Lawrence’s most well known paintings are The Wedding, Builders Three, The Cabin Maker, The Swearing In, Solitaire, and Artist In Studio. Most of all Jacob is known for his
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Migration Series.
The Migration Series is a collection of 60 different paintings that display the huge movement of African Americans to the United States during World War 1 and World War 2. The series took Jacob months to complete and he had some help from Gwendolyn Knight, his wife.
The painting that I chose to replicate is The Wedding. In this painting a couple exchanges vows with attendants by their side. All the shapes in this painting have curves and bright colors which creates a lot of movement and energy. The people that are exchanging vows are black as well as the minister and the attendants. The background has a large stain glass window with bright black, yellow, green, and red flowers. The border of the painting is two large columns with wood at the bottom and broken glass the rest of the way up. The glass on the columns appear to be shattered and are green, blue, red, and orange. The floors in the painting are worn and brown wooden boards, the same color as the base of the columns. The two attendants are a man and a woman, the man is tall wearing black slacks and a black jacket
with white cuff links that have a black button. The woman attendant is wearing green capris with a green hoodie and green loafers. The woman that is exchanging her vows is wearing a bright red dress and bright red top with bright red heels and a bright red hat. The man that is exchanging his vows is wearing black slacks with black shoes, black jacket with white cuff links, and some type of black hoodie or hat. The minister is wearing a strange outfit, it looks like on big black robe and a black mask. The men dress dark and formal to whereas the women dress bright and formal but not as formal as the men. The painting seems simple but if you take a closer look it gets complicated and confusing. On the floor there are four large vases that have flowers flowing out of them and it looks like the flowers slowly fade into the stained glass window. I believe this was Jacob Lawrence’s best painting because it has so much energy to it and it just captures your eye. Overall it has a very smooth appearance but at the same time it is so complex. I haven't seen a painting like this before it is definitely a one of a kind and it has its own style. I am glad that I was given Jacob Lawrence for my essay because I learned so much about him and he has became one of my favorite artists. He will definitely go down in history as not only one of the best painters but as one of the most unique and interesting. I am also glad I chose The Wedding as my painting to replicate because i was able to get a closer look at the painting and discover so many new things about it that you can't really see without a closer look.
Jacob Lawrence’s’ painting, Brownstones, is a very energetic painting. This painting consists of children doing several activities such as jump roping, playing with a ball, walking their dog, and just chatting. There are a total of ten adults that is portrayed the painting; one couple is walking together closely showing the love they have for each other, another couple pushes their baby carriage, one lady is carrying her groceries to her place of living, and seven adults seat on the seat either enjoying a conversation or receiving fresh air. “Other couples and paired figures appear throughout the image” (“Jacob Lawrence: Exploring Stories”). “Lawrence also offered multiple views into the brownstone's open windows” (“"Brownstones" by Jacob Lawrence”). There
The painting is organized simply. The background of the painting is painted in an Impressionist style. The blurring of edges, however, starkly contrasts with the sharp and hard contours of the figure in the foreground. The female figure is very sharp and clear compared to the background. The background paint is thick compared to the thin lines used to paint the figures in the foreground. The thick paint adds to the reduction of detail for the background. The colors used to paint the foreground figures are vibrant, as opposed to the whitened colors of the Impressionist background. The painting is mostly comprised of cool colors but there is a range of dark and light colors. The light colors are predominantly in the background and the darker colors are in the foreground. The vivid color of the robe contrasts with the muted colors of the background, resulting in an emphasis of the robe color. This emphasis leads the viewer's gaze to the focal part of the painting: the figures in the foreground. The female and baby in the foreground take up most of the canvas. The background was not painted as the artist saw it, but rather the impression t...
Herberholz, Barbara. "Jacob Lawrence: The Glory of Expression." Arts and Activities 129.1 (2001): 12. ProQuest. Web. 25 Jan. 2014.
My first piece of artwork that I found interesting is called “Portrait of a Collagist” by an African American artist name Benny Andrews in 1989. His artwork is mainly abstract impressionism and realism and the medium he likes to use and is using in the particular piece is oil and collage on canvas and stands roughly 92inx51in. In this piece his work is abstract and realism, as is most of his pieces. (Source?)
beautiful works of art. Douglas reached Harlem and instantly fell in love with the culture and
The Great Migration was a huge relocation of African Americans from the Southern states of the United States to northern and Midwestern cities. This occurred between the years of 1910 and 1970. Over 6 million African Americans traveled to Northern cities during the migration. Some northern city destinations include Richmond, D.C, Baltimore, New York, and Newark. Western and Midwestern destinations include those such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit.
Jacob Lawrence is celebrated for his insightful depictions of American and, in particular, African American life. Best known for his epic series of paintings on such subjects as the lives of Harriet Tubman and Toussaint L'Ouverture, he has also created numerous prints, murals, and drawings. Among the latter are a delightful set of twenty-three illustrations...
The 41 small tempera paintings dramatize the struggle of Haiti’s newly-obtained independence and the exploitation of farm workers. That artistic tribute to the freedom fighter, exposed in the paintings with vibrant colors, geometric shapes, and abstract patterns established the distinctive style that made him famous [Dynamic Cubism]. Lawrence also painted pictures about the typical colored people, and he presented them as heroes, full of dignity that was obtained in the struggle. Lawrence was married to painter Gwendolyn Knight on July 24, 1941. In October 1943 (during World War II), he enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and served in the first racially integrated United States Coast Guard (USCGC) Sea Cloud team. While he was in the Coast Guard, he was able to paint and draw what was happening during World War II. Lawrence completed the set of sixty narrative paintings titled “Migration of the Black.” Those series were about the migration of thousands of African-Americans from the South to the North after World War I. It was exhibited in New York and brought him a national award. In the 1940s, Lawrence made his first major exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and became the most famous African-American painter in the country. Lawrence taught at several schools, and continued painting until a few weeks before
The composition of this painting forces the eye to the woman, and specifically to her face. Although the white wedding dress is large and takes up most of the woman’s figure, the white contrasts with her face and dark hair, forcing the viewer to look more closely into the woman’s face. She smokes a cigarette and rests her chin on her hands. She does not appear to be a very young woman and her eyes are cast down and seem sad. In general, her face appears to show a sense of disillusionment with life and specifically with her own life. Although this is apparently her wedding day, she does not seem to be happy.
Born in March of 1916 as Jacob (Jack) Ezra Katz, he was the third child to Benjamin and Augusta Katz. His parents were both Polish immigrants of Jewish descent and they raised him in East New York, the predominantly Jewish section of Brooklyn. As immigrants they were plagued with financial difficulties and this was further aggravated when they struggled through the Depression. Despite all of these hardships, Keats had already begun to showcase his artistic abilities. At the age of eight he was hired to paint the sign of a local store. Naturally, his father was quite proud of him when he earned twenty-five cents for his work and hoped that this might endeavor might lead to a steady career as a sign pa¬inter. Unfortunately for him, Keats was smitten with Fine Arts and won his first award in Junior High School: a medal for ...
Jacob Lawrence is among the most distinguished and accomplished American artists of the twentieth-century. Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1917 and spent part of his childhood in Pennsylvania. He was not the only child; he had a sister named Geraldene and a brother named William. In 1930 his family split up and he moved to New York City's Harlem neighborhood, where as a teenager he attended classes taught by Charles Alston at the Harlem Community Art Center. He was the youngest of the fellow students so this was a great accomplishment. Following a period in upstate New York spent working for the Civilian Conservation Corps, he returned to art, first on a scholarship to the newly formed American Artists School, and then as an employee in the easel division of the WPA Federal Art Project. In the late 1930s, Lawrence occupied a studio at 306 West 141st Street in the company of fellow artists such as Alston, Romare Bearden, Ronald Joseph, and others. In 1941, Lawrence gained representation at the prestigious Downtown Gallery, where he met and exhibited alongside artists such as Stuart Davis, Ben Shahn, John Marin, and Charles Sheeler. Lawrence entered the Coast Guard in 1943 and was later assigned to the first racially integrated ship in U.S. history. He was released from military duty in December 1945. In the summer of 1946, at the invitation of Josef Albers, he taught at Black Mountain College in North Carolina. Lawrence began teaching extensively in 1955, first at Pratt Institute in New York, and later at New School for Social Research, the Art Students League, and Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture in Maine. In 1962, he visited Africa for the first time; he returned in 1964 to lecture, teach and paint. In 1971, he and his wife, Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence, moved to Seattle, where he taught at the University of Washington until 1986.
On February 1, 1801 the talented landscape artist Thomas Cole was born, to James and Mary Cole in Bolton-le-Moor Lancashire, England. He was the youngest of seven children. According to some sources Cole had a tough childhood, at the age of 9 he was sent off to go to a school in Chester where he allegedly suffered from malnutrition, cruel punishment, and frequent sickness .During his teenage years Cole was trained as a textile designer. In 1818 at the age of 17 his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. James Cole was unable to find suitable work to support his family in Pennsylvania so he eventually packed them up and moved to Steubenville, Ohio leaving Thomas behind. Thomas Cole spent most of his first year in the United States alone in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania working as a textile print designer and wood engraver before joining his family in Ohio. James Cole opened up a wall paper manufactory business in Ohio where Thomas eventually started working for him as a designer, and also engraved woodblocks. Cole’s interest and curiosity in Art began around 1820. While doing some traveling to surrounding towns he met an artist named Stein, who taught him the basics of using oi...
Jacob Lawrence was an American painter, and the most widely acclaimed African-American artist of the 20th century. He was known for producing great works of art such as the Migration Series and War Series. This brought the African-American experience to life using blacks and browns placed side by side with vivid colors. Lawrence used social realism and modern abstraction, among other things, to create the stories of African American experiences. At 25 years of age, he gained national attention with his 60-panel Migration Series that was painted on cardboard. This series depicted the Great Migration of African- Americans from the rural south to the urban north. Another example of the life’s of African Americans would be the Toussaint L’Ouverture
I chose to describe Jacob Lawrence because of the theme of relatable characteristics that each painting that I reviewed to brought to my remembrance For example the Barber Shop rendering from Jacobs spun my thoughts back to the simpler times of my youth. I would spend hours at the barbershop listening to all the stories and news of the day. Many of relatives had paintings similar to Lawrence’s style and looking over Mr. Lawrence’s work has a certain familiarity that I find comforting. Additionally, his attention to color, pattern and his detail research prior to producing a painting, certainly peaked my interest in becoming more familiar with the man and his works. His works were more recently viewed at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Nebraska at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, and Museum of Modern Art (Phillips Collection)
One of the more famous artist that also referred to African art for inspiration was Pablo Picasso. Picasso with Braque have been credited for developing cubism.