Jacob Lawrence is one of the most acclaimed African-American artists of the 20th century. Although he never finished high school, Lawrence was able to hone his creative talents and became a legendary arts icon. Lawrence was born September 7, 1917 in Atlantic City, N.J.
At the age of 13, he and his family moved to Harlem, New York to begin anew. His mother enrolled him into a local arts program, and his talent began to blossom there.
But Lawrence dropped out of high school at 16 to go to work. He continued studying art under the tutelage of celebrated Harlem Renaissance sculptor Charles Alston at the Harlem Art Workshop. Alston urged Lawrence to attend studies at the Harlem Community Art Center to work with sculptor Augusta Savage.
Savage helped Lawrence obtain a scholarship to attend the American Artists School and also secured a paid position with then-President Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration. While working at the WPA, Lawrence again studied with Alston and artist Henry Bannarn. In 1941, Lawrence married sculptor Gwendolyn Knight, another of Savage’s students.
Also in 1941, Lawrence completed perhaps his best-known work, ‘The Migration Series.’ Much of Lawrence’s work, which fell under a category he called “dynamic cubism” was bright and colorful, often depicting the lives and struggles of African-Americans.
In 1943, Lawrence enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and became part of the first racially integrated sea crew. He continued to paint several pieces while at sea, all of which were lost. Throughout the ’40s and ’50s, Lawrence shot to fame with showings of his art in major national museums and taught at several schools over the years before settling in the Pacific Northwest in 1971. Lawrence taught at the University of Washington for 15 years before retiring in 1986.
An award-winning artist, Lawrence won the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in 1970. In 1983, he was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1990, he was given the nation’s highest arts honor, the U.S. National Medal of Arts by then-President George H.W. Bush.
In 1998, Washington State gave him its highest honor, the Washington Medal of Merit. Lawrence continued to paint up until a few weeks before his quiet passing on June 9, 2000.
His last commissioned piece, a mosaic mural titled “New York In Transit,” was put on display at the New York MTA’s Times Square subway station in October 2001.
To see his work click here.
