On September 7, 1917, legendary painter Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He became a pioneer in the realm of African American art and an influential figure in the broader world of modern art.
Raised in Harlem, New York, during the cultural explosion of the Harlem Renaissance, he was exposed to a community of artists. This environment served as a wellspring of inspiration for his work, which often depicted the everyday lives of Black people.
One of Lawrence’s most renowned series of paintings is “The Migration Series,” completed in 1941. This collection of 60 paintings masterfully chronicled the Great Migration, a massive movement of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North in the early 20th century.
In 1941, Lawrence married painter Gwendolyn Knight. They remained married until his death in Seattle in 2000.
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