Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series

Elizabeth Hutton Turner, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Et al.

ISBN 10: 0963612905 / ISBN 13: 9780963612908

Published by The Rappahannock Press in Association with the Phillips Collection, Washington, D. C., 1993

About this Item

cloth, hardcover in dust jacket., two minute bits of wear to dj, negligible impact. minor rubbing to title-page, again, negligible impact. else, clean. no markings. no bumps, creases or chips. strong binding. a very well preserved copy.; english text., 172pp., 60 color plates and 56 in b/w. seven essays by various contributors. comprehensive. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

Seller Inventory # 25742

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series
• Publisher: The Rappahannock Press in Association with the Phillips Collection, Washington, D. C.
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0963612905
• ISBN 13: 9780963612908
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine Plus
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine Plus
• Book Type: Exhibition Catalogue
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art History, U.S.

About this title

Synopsis

Reproduces sixty full-color paintings, completed in 1941 by one of the most famous black artists of the twentieth century, depicting the migration of blacks from the rural South to the urban North after World War II, with scholarly commentary.

Review

Dickerman describes the "Migration Series," fittingly, as a mode of history painting. The current century's catalogue of continuing violence against African Americans telegraphs that the structural inequality Lawrence documents is not confined to the past and that the "whole of America" has yet to absorb the lessons he aimed to teach.--Anne Monahan "CAA Reviews "

A fine new catalog.--Michael Upchurch "The Seattle Times "

A fine new catalog.--Michael Upchurch -The Seattle Times -

Essential American History, Masterfully Rendered.--Emily Pothast "The Stranger "

Dickerman describes the Migration Series, fittingly, as a mode of history painting. The current century's catalogue of continuing violence against African Americans telegraphs that the structural inequality Lawrence documents is not confined to the past and that the "whole of America" has yet to absorb the lessons he aimed to teach.--Anne Monahan "CAA Reviews "

Thus, for many readers, the most powerful pages will inevitably be the 60 panels themselves, the deceptively childlike distillation of history and of the hopes and dreams propelling the movement that produced him. This family of images are together again as Lawrence wished them to be, as enduring now as the day he set them on gesso.--Isabel Wilkerson "The New York Times Book Review "

Several of Lawrence's panels resonate eerily with current events, as tensions continue to build across the US over the killing of black men by police. In a caption that could easily have been written today, panel 22 reads: "Migrants left. They did not feel safe. It was not wise to be found on the streets late at night. They were arrested on the slightest provocation." The accompanying image depicts three men handcuffed together. Their vertical stances echo the barriers of the jail cell.--Joanna Robotham "The Art Newspaper "

So much, and yet so little, has changed since 1940, when Lawrence laid 60 panels on the floor of his studio and began to tell the story of African-Americans' northward journey. It's a tale of fitful improvement without joyous finales.--Ariella Budick "The Financial Times "

In Harlem, Mr. Lawrence was a deep reader living among deep writers, like Ralph Ellison, Richard Wright and Langston Hughes. He knew them, talked with them, listened. In a very smart move, MoMA has extended this tradition of disciplinary exchange by asking 10 contemporary African-American poets, under the direction of the writer Elizabeth Alexander, to respond to the 'Migration Series' with new work. The results are in the catalog.... Terrific.--Holland Cotter "The New York Times "

Lawrence used a deceptively simple structure - 60 small tempera paintings, each with its own caption - to tackle difficult political subjects, from bias in the criminal justice system to race riots in St. Louis. Many of the panels feel particularly resonant today.--Julia Halperin "The Art Newspaper "