Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle by Elizabeth Hutton Turner


Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle
Title : Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0875772374
ISBN-10 : 9780875772370
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 192
Publication : Published November 25, 2019

This publication sets the precedent for the next generation of Lawrence scholars and studies in modern and contemporary discourse. The American Struggle explores Jacob Lawrence's radical way of transforming history into art by looking at his thirty panel series of paintings, Struggle . . . from the History of the American People (1954–56). Essays by Steven Locke, Elizabeth Hutton Turner, Austen Barron Bailly, and Lydia Gordon mark the historic reunion of this series―seen together in this exhibition for the first time since 1958. In entries on the panels, a multitude of voices responds to the episodes representing struggle from American history that Lawrence chose to activate in his series. The American Struggle reexamines Lawrence's lost narrative and its power for twenty-first century audiences by including contemporary art and artists. Derrick Adams, Bethany Collins, and Hank Willis Thomas invite us to reconsider history through themes of struggle in ways that resonate with Lawrence's artistic invention. Statements by these artists amplify how they and Lawrence view history not as distant period of the past but as an active imaginative space that is continuously questioned in the present tense and for future audiences.

Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle Reviews

  • Karen

    Having presented Jacob Lawrence "Migration Series" to 11th-grade classes the past few years, I was interested to investigate another project Lawrence undertook in the mid-1950s. In "The American Struggle Series", the artist interprets pivotal events in history with his trademark cubist compositions and bright washes of color. Lawrence painted scenes ranging from the Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel to Sacajawea's reunion with her brother, a Shoshone chief. Lawrence declared the series done at 30 panels (his original intention was to paint twice that number, but his ambitions diminished). Moreso than the "Migration Series" artworks, the paintings in "The American Struggle" invite closer and longer inspection to catch all of nuances in Lawrence's work. The book is supplemented with scholarly essays about Lawrence and the project, as well as views of the art in the context of more modern pieces. One thing I appreciate about Lawrence is that he based his paintings on research and readers can follow his path in another of the book's features.

  • Phillip

    4.75 / 5.0

    One of the best exhibition catalogs i have read. Piece by piece analysis and detailed historical reference analysis. Great graphics. Must read before during anfd after viewing.