Jacob Lawrence (1917 - 2000)

Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1917. His mother, after separating from his father, moved the family to New York City when Lawrence was seventeen. There he took classes in arts and crafts at a settlement house in Harlem, which was amid the Harlem Renaissance at this time. His future as an artist was facilitated by his particular interest in drawing the patterns of his mother's carpets with crayons. He received artistic training at Works Progress Administration (WPA) Harlem Art Workshop under artist Charles Alston. During the Depression, he worked for the WPA, Civilian Conservation Corps, furthered his relationship with Charles Alston, and observed the creation of the WPA mural, Magic and Medicine, for a hospital in Harlem in 1937. In 1941 came his most famous succession of works, a sixty-panel series entitled Migration of the Negro, which was an emotionally raw portrayal of the migration of African Americans from the largely rural South to the urban centers of the Northeast and Midwest, immediately following the First World War. He would also complete a series on Abolitionists John Brown, Frederick Douglas, and Harriet Tubman each telling a story of their own. This work is number seven from his John Brown series and represents the early planning stages of his military attempts to overthrow the institution of slavery.

Jacob Lawrence created various advertisements for an annual ball presented by the Artists Equity Fund, Inc. On the night of May 20, 1954, the Spring Fantasia Masquerade Ball was in full swing, and Hotel Astor was one of the advertisements used to promote this wondrous evening. Hotel Astor shows long lines and strokes that form gestures of peoples’ embrace as they dance with elegant dresses and suits under dazzling lighting. To the left of the illustration is a circle and box with written notes inside. This is where the details of the ball’s invitation would be added. The strokes of black gloves and elongated eyelashes coincide with the neatly arranged squiggly lines that illustrate elegant up-do hairstyles and stunning necklaces and rings. Just by looking at the illustration, you can sense an element of glamour and mystery, as everyone’s face is hidden, either by hair, eyelashes, or a mask. Some figures in this illustration have their face hidden simply because their back is turned toward the audience. This shows his intellect of Lawrence and how creative he is when it comes to perspective and his overall attitude toward the context of the scene in which he has created.

Provenance

Galerie Dobbelhoef, Kessel (Belgique) Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Literature

Exhibition History

Wifredo Lam and Agustín Cárdenas, 9 September – 5 November 2021, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

12 x 9 in. (30.5 x 22.9 cm)