Jacob Lawrence
1917–2000
16 works
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Depression
1950 -
On view
Floor 7War Series: Prayer
1947 -
War Series: Shipping Out
1947 -
War Series: Alert
1947 -
War Series: Docking - Cigarette, Joe?
1947 -
War Series: On Leave
1947 -
War Series: Beachhead
1947 -
War Series: How Long?
1947 -
War Series: Purple Hearts
1947 -
War Series: Casualty - The Secretary of War Regrets
1947 -
On view
Floor 7War Series: Going Home
1947 -
War Series: Reported Missing
1947 -
War Series: Victory
1947 -
War Series: Another Patrol
1946 -
War Series: The Letter
1946 -
Tombstones
1942
Videos
Audio
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
Stop 701 from Where We Are (Spanish)
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
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Narrator: El artista Jacob Lawrence dio el título de Victory a esta pintura al temple. Sin embargo, la cabeza de la figura pende sobre su arma asentada de pie. La pintura forma parte de War Series, que se originó durante el servicio de Lawrence en un barco de transporte de la armada, en la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Jacob Lawrence: Serví en el USS Sea Cloud, que era un barco patrulla de clima; también serví en el United States Richardson, que transportaba tropas. Jamás olvidaré esa experiencia. En el viaje de ida transportábamos a 5,000 tropas —jóvenes soldados estadounidenses— y regresábamos convertidos en un barco-hospital. Muchos de esos casos eran horrorosos. Era terrible verlos, ver lo que podía suceder en la guerra, especialmente lo que podía sucederle a las personas mental, física y psicológicamente. No puedo verbalizarlo, porque desvalorizaría la experiencia.
Narrator: Al principio, Lawrence recibió el rango de Auxiliar de Sobrecargo, puesto que solía ser el único disponible para los afroamericanos. Pronto pasó a servir en un regimiento integrado como Artista Guarda Costa, cargo con el que pasaría a documentar la guerra en Italia, Inglaterra, Egipto e India. Después de la guerra, Lawrence se convirtió en un maestro influyente y realizó numerosas obras públicas e ilustraciones, además de su obra pictórica.
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
Stop 701 from Where We Are (Kids, Spanish)
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
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Mark Joshua Epstein: Pues nos encontramos frente a una serie de pinturas denominada la War Series realizada por un artista llamado Jacob Lawrence, y nos vamos a concentrar en una obra titulada The Letter. Tómense unos instantes para encontrarla. ¿Qué les llama la atención sobre esta pintura?
Estudiante 1: Creo que es casi como que la carta le hubiera hecho algo a ella. Como si fueran muy malas noticias y ella se hubiera puesto muy triste.
Estudiante 2: También los colores son muy oscuros. Y tiene la cabeza baja, parece triste.
Estudiante 1: A lo mejor perdió a su marido o algo así, porque lleva un anillo en el dedo.
Mark Joshua Epstein: Es interesante que muchos de ustedes hayan pensado que quizás sea un hombre o una mujer. Se ha escrito normalmente que es un hombre, pero ustedes están trayendo a colación el tema de que, en realidad, es algo difícil de saber. Como alguien decía antes, no podemos ver su rostro. Entonces, cuando menciono el título de la serie, que es la War Series, ¿se imaginan pinturas como esta, como The Letter, o les vienen a la cabeza otro tipo de imágenes?
Estudiante 1: Normalmente otro tipo de imágenes. Quizás de un hospital o algo así, donde haya gente que ha sido afectada por la guerra, que tenga heridas, por ejemplo.
Estudiante 2: Yo he visto pinturas de guerras antiguas, con un montón de soldados con lanzas y a caballo. Si solo me dijeran el nombre, probablemente pensaría en algo como eso.
Estudiante 1: Yo suelo pensar en hombres luchando en una guerra. No suelo pensar en la gente que se quedó en casa.
Mark Joshua Epstein: Jacob Lawrence realizó esta serie entre 1946 y 1947, justo después de luchar en la Segunda Guerra Mundial en la Guardia Costera. En principio, sirvió en un regimiento exclusivo para negros, que era de alguna manera lo que menos rango tenía en el ejército o la guardia costera, y más tarde sirvió en un regimiento interracial. Vivió la experiencia de estar en la guerra y de viajar por todo el mundo. Y alguien mencionó antes que se le venían a la cabeza quizás escenas de guerras antiguas y de gente con lanzas, y se ha dicho que Jacob Lawrence se inspiró en parte en la época que pasó en Egipto en la Guardia Costera, donde habría visto estas obras de arte más antiguas.
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
Stop 701 from Where We Are (Kids)
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
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Mark Joshua Epstein: So we are sitting in front of a series of paintings called the War Series by an artist named Jacob Lawrence. And we're going to concentrate on one called The Letter. Take a moment to find it. What do you notice about this painting?
Student 1: I think it’s almost like the letter has done something to her. Like it was very bad news and she’s very upset about it.
Student 2: Also the colors are very dark. And their head is very low down and sad.
Student 3: Maybe she lost her husband or something because I see a ring on her finger.
Mark Joshua Epstein: It's interesting that a lot of you identified it as maybe it's a man or maybe it's a woman. It's often written about that it's a man but you're bringing up the point that it's actually kind of hard to tell because someone was just saying that we don't see the face. So when I say the title of the series, which is the War Series, do you think of paintings that look like this, that look like The Letter, or do other kinds of images come to mind?
Student 1: Usually other kinds of images. Like maybe a hospital or something, where people that have been affected by the war, like hurt, go.
Student 2: I’ve seen some paintings of ancient wars, of a bunch of soldiers with spears and riding on horses. If I was going to just hear the name I’d probably think of something like that.
Student 3: I normally think of men fighting in wars. I don't normally think of the people back at home.
Mark Joshua Epstein: Jacob Lawrence made this series in 1946 and 1947, which is right after he actually served in World War II in the Coast Guard, and he served first in an all-black regiment, and it was kind of lower down the totem pole of what one could do in the army or in the coast guard, and then later he served in an integrated regiment. He had experience of being in the war and he had experience of being all over the world. And someone mentioned before that you were thinking—maybe we think about ancient war scenes and people with spears, and people have said that Jacob Lawrence was inspired in part by the time he spent in Egypt in the Coast Guard where he would have seen these more ancient works of art.
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
Stop 770 from Where We Are (Spanish)
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
0:00
Narrator: El artista Jacob Lawrence dio el título de Victory a esta pintura al temple. Sin embargo, la cabeza de la figura pende sobre su arma asentada de pie. La pintura forma parte de War Series, que se originó durante el servicio de Lawrence en un barco de transporte de la armada, en la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Jacob Lawrence: Serví en el USS Sea Cloud, que era un barco patrulla de clima; también serví en el United States Richardson, que transportaba tropas. Jamás olvidaré esa experiencia. En el viaje de ida transportábamos a 5,000 tropas —jóvenes soldados estadounidenses— y regresábamos convertidos en un barco-hospital. Muchos de esos casos eran horrorosos. Era terrible verlos, ver lo que podía suceder en la guerra, especialmente lo que podía sucederle a las personas mental, física y psicológicamente. No puedo verbalizarlo, porque desvalorizaría la experiencia.
Narrator: Al principio, Lawrence recibió el rango de Auxiliar de Sobrecargo, puesto que solía ser el único disponible para los afroamericanos. Pronto pasó a servir en un regimiento integrado como Artista Guarda Costa, cargo con el que pasaría a documentar la guerra en Italia, Inglaterra, Egipto e India. Después de la guerra, Lawrence se convirtió en un maestro influyente y realizó numerosas obras públicas e ilustraciones, además de su obra pictórica.
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Elsie Driggs, Pittsburgh, 1927
Stop 823 from America Is Hard to See
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Elsie Driggs, Pittsburgh, 1927
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Narrator: The factory you see in this painting seems ominous. Look at the four dark cylinders in the center. These are smokestacks, and the thin lines that fill the air around them are support cables. If you think of them only as geometric shapes, they might be beautiful. But as an image of industrialization, they’re gloomy and menacing. They suggest that all is not well in the brave new world of technology. Clouds of toxic fumes drift up from the bottom of the painting and across the sky.
The artist, Elsie Driggs, saw this factory, a Pittsburgh steel mill, on a train trip she took as a child. When she went back in l927 to make a painting, the owners of the mill refused to let her in. They were afraid she was a labor agitator. Anyway, they said, a factory was no place for a woman. Driggs later recalled, “By the time they decided I was harmless, I didn't care if I went in there anymore. But walking up toward my boarding house one night, I found my view. The forms were so close. And I stared at it and told myself, "This shouldn't be beautiful. But it is."
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
Stop 823 from America Is Hard to See
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Jacob Lawrence, War Series, 1946–47
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Narrator: Artist Jacob Lawrence.
Jacob Lawrence: This is owned by the Whitney Museum of American Art—it’s the War Series. There are 14 paintings in the series, and these are several of those paintings.
Narrator: Lawrence’s War Series originated during his service on a World War Two navy transport ship. It depicts a range of emotional experiences, from the fear and confusion of combat to the tragedy of loss. Lawrence made a point of showing black and white servicemen together. This reflects part of his experience in World War II. He served with the US Coast Guard, which was then part of the navy.
Jacob Lawrence: I served on the USS Sea Cloud, which was a weather patrol ship, and I served on the United States Richardson, which was a troop transport.
Narrator: Like most African American sailors, Lawrence was initially classified as a steward’s mate—essentially, a servant for white officers. But his first captain, Lieutenant Commander Carlton Skinner, made his ship, the Sea Cloud the first fully integrated vessel in the US Navy. Captain Skinner helped Lawrence obtain a public relations rating. This allowed him to paint on duty, as ship’s artist.
Lawrence began the War Series soon after he was discharged in December, 1945. It was his way of coming to terms with what he’d witnessed. If you’d like to hear more about his experience, tap the button to continue.
Exhibitions
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Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925–1945
Feb 17, 2020–Jan 31, 2021
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The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965
On view
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Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1900–1960
Apr 28, 2017–June 2, 2019
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The Whitney's Collection
Sept 28, 2015–Apr 4, 2016
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America Is Hard to See
May 1–Sept 27, 2015
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American Legends: From Calder to O’Keeffe
Dec 22, 2012–June 29, 2014
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Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time
Oct 28, 2010–Apr 10, 2011
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Jacob Lawrence's
Migration Series: Selections from the Phillips CollectionNov 21, 2007–Jan 6, 2008
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Modernisms
Aug 29, 2007–Jan 13, 2008
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Full House: Views of the Whitney’s Collection at 75
June 29–Sept 3, 2006
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Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence
May 25, 2001–Jan 30, 2003
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Highlights from the Permanent Collection: From Hopper to Mid-Century
Feb 25, 2000–May 20, 2006
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1972 Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Painting
Jan 25–Mar 19, 1972
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1969 Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Painting
Dec 16, 1969–Feb 1, 1970
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1965 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting
Dec 8, 1965–Jan 30, 1966
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Annual Exhibition 1963: Contemporary American Painting
Dec 11, 1963–Feb 2, 1964
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Annual Exhibition 1961: Contemporary American Painting
Dec 13, 1961–Feb 4, 1962
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1958 Annual Exhibition: Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings
Nov 19, 1958–Jan 4, 1959
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1957 Annual Exhibition: Sculpture, Paintings, Watercolors
Nov 20, 1957–Jan 12, 1958
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1954 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Mar 17–Apr 18, 1954
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1953 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Apr 9–May 29, 1953
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1952 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Mar 13–May 4, 1952
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1951 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Mar 17–May 6, 1951
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1950 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Apr 1–May 28, 1950
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1949 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Apr 2–May 8, 1949
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1948 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Jan 31–Mar 21, 1948
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1947 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Mar 11–Apr 17, 1947
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1946 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Feb 5–Mar 13, 1946
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1945 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture, Watercolors and Drawings
Jan 3–Feb 8, 1945
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1943 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art
Nov 23, 1943–Jan 4, 1944