Hood Museum of Art
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
www.dartmouth.edu/~hood
603/646-2808
Jacob Lawrence--Aesop's Fables
April 10 - June 20, 1999
One the most distinguished artists of the twentieth century, Jacob
Lawrence is celebrated for his insightful depictions of American and, in
particular, African American life. Best known for his epic series of paintings
on such subjects as the lives of Harriet Tubman and Toussaint L'Ouverture,
he has also created numerous prints, murals, and drawings. Among the latter
are a delightful set of twenty-three illustrations for the classic Aesop's
Fables. These bold and expressive pen-and-ink drawings are on view at
the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, New Hampshire, from April 10 through
June 20, 1999 in an exhibition entitled Jacob Lawrence--Aesop's Fables.
This is the only northeastern venue for this nationally touring exhibition.
Above left: Jacob Lawrence in his studio, 1994. Photo by Spike Mafford,
courtesy of the artist and Francine Seders Gallery
Born in 1917 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Lawrence moved
to New York City with his family in 1930, not long 
after the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance. There
he studied with painter Charles Alston, whose studio was a gathering place
for many of the great African American artists and intellectuals of that
era. Inspired by the discussions he encountered at Alston's studio, Lawrence
developed the keen interest in African American history and culture that
has informed much of his artistic work. Right: Aesop's Fable,
"The Two Frogs," 1969, courtesy of the artist and Francine
Seders Gallery
Lawrence is best known for his epic series that grew out
of this influential time. Comprising as many as sixty paintings each, these
series depict such subjects as the successful Haitian slave revolt led by
Toussaint L'Ouverture, Harriet Tubman's work in the Underground Railroad,
the life of Abolitionist writer and orator Frederick Douglass, and the Great
Migration of African Americans from southern farms to northern cities.
Completed in 1941, the Migration series catapulted the
twenty-four-year-old artist to national prominence. The series was shown
at New York's Downtown Gallery and subsequently was purchased by the Museum
of Modern Art and the Phillips Collection, making Lawrence both the first
African American artist to be represented by a major New York gallery and
the first to be represented in MoMA's collection. His work has since earned
a place in the collections of nearly every major American museum--including
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the National
Gallery of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art--and has been the
subject of three major nationally touring retrospectives. Among Lawrence's
numerous honors and awards are twenty honorary doctorates from institutions
including Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, Howard
University, and Amherst College. He received the National Medal of Arts
from President Bush in 1990 and he is a member of both the Academy of Arts
and Letters and the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Stylistically,
Lawrence is known for his felicitous marriage of a compositional language
based on cubism and a flair for draftsmanship and characterization. A master
storyteller, Lawrence possesses an engaging gift for narrative that is particularly
evident in the Fables illustrations. Deftly capturing the fables'
charm, humor, and wisdom, Lawrence's works reflect both the whimsy and the
severity of these timeless morality tales that have fascinated him from
his youth. Interestingly, although intrigued by the use of animals as main
characters, Lawrence first sketched the scenarios with human figures, replacing
them only later with their anthropomorphized forms. These figures are rendered
with a rich, dynamic tension and vitality emphasized by the high contrast
black and white color scheme. Left: Aesop's Fable, "The Council
of Mice," 1969, courtesy of the artist and Francine Seders Gallery
Jacob Lawrence--Aesop's Fables
presents a rare opportunity to see one of Lawrence's series in its entirety.
With their combination of sophisticated technique and whimsical subject
matter, these images hold considerable appeal for adults and children alike.
Jacob Lawrence--Aesop's Fables
was first published by Windmill Books/Simon and Schuster in 1970. In 1997
the University of Washington Press issued a new edition that includes five
works omitted from the original. This exhibition was organized by Francine
Seders Gallery Ltd., Seattle, Washington. Its presentation at the Hood Museum
of Art has been made possible through the generous support of the William
Chase Grant 1919 Memorial Fund.
For further biographical information on selected artists
cited above please see America's Distinguished
Artists, a national registry of historic artists.
rev. 9/20/10
Search Resource
Library for thousands of articles and essays on American art.
Copyright 2010 Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., an Arizona nonprofit corporation. All rights
reserved.
One the most distinguished artists of the twentieth century, Jacob
Lawrence is celebrated for his insightful depictions of American and, in
particular, African American life. Best known for his epic series of paintings
on such subjects as the lives of Harriet Tubman and Toussaint L'Ouverture,
he has also created numerous prints, murals, and drawings. Among the latter
are a delightful set of twenty-three illustrations for the classic Aesop's
Fables. These bold and expressive pen-and-ink drawings are on view at
the Hood Museum of Art in Hanover, New Hampshire, from April 10 through
June 20, 1999 in an exhibition entitled Jacob Lawrence--Aesop's Fables.
This is the only northeastern venue for this nationally touring exhibition.
Above left: Jacob Lawrence in his studio, 1994. Photo by Spike Mafford,
courtesy of the artist and Francine Seders Gallery
