Jacob Lawrence
Jacob Lawrence (September 7, 1917–June 9, 2000) was an African
American painter; he was married to fellow artist Gwendolyn Knight.
Lawrence is probably among the most well known twentieth century
African American painters, a distinction also shared by Romare Bearden.
Lawrence's Migration Series made him nationally famous when it was
featured in a 1941 issue of Fortune Magazine. The series depicts
the great move north of blacks in the Depression years.
Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, but moved many
times over the course of his life, first making his name in Harlem
and finally settling in Seattle, Washington in 1970 to become an
art professor at the University of Washington, where some of his
works are now displayed as part of the Paul G. Allen Center for
Computer Science & Engineering [1]. In 1998 he received Washington
State's highest honor, The Washington Medal of Merit.
Lawrence's work often portrayed important periods in African-American
history. Among his works are a series of pieces about the abolitionist
John Brown and another about Haitian revolutionary Toussaint l'Ouverture.
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