Aug 29 2020 - Nov 1 2020
New York City, NY
Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle features the little-seen series of 30 paintings—"Struggle . . . From the History of the American People" (1954–56)—by the iconic American modernist.
The exhibition reunites the multi-paneled work for the first time in more than half a century.Lawrence's "Struggle" was originally conceived as a series of sixty 12-by-16-inch tempera-on-board paintings, spanning subjects from the American Revolution to World War I. It was intended to depict, in the artist's words, "the struggles of a people to create a nation and their attempt to build a democracy." Lawrence planned to publish his ambitious project in book form. In the end, he completed thirty panels representing historical moments from 1775 through 1817—from Patrick Henry to Westward Expansion.
The finished works are titled rhetorically, attributed with quotations that emphasize America's early fight for independence and expansionism, as well as oft-overlooked contributions of women and people of color. This more inclusive representation of the nation's past is no less relevant today, and Lawrence's prescient visual reckoning with American history remains profoundly resonant with ongoing issues and debates regarding race and national identity.
Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website
Image: Jacob Lawrence, Panel 1. ...Is Life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? – Patrick Henry, 1775, 1955. From Struggle Series, 1954–56. Egg tempera on hardboard. Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross. © The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photography by Bob Packert/PEM.
Image: Jacob Lawrence, Panel 19. Thousands of American citizens have been torn from their country and from everything dear to them: they have been dragged on board ships of war of a foreign nation. – Madison, 1 June 1812, 1956. From Struggle Series, 1954–56. Egg tempera on hardboard. Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross. © The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photography by Stephen Petegorsky.