John Brown fought to abolish slavery; his heroic life and his death in 1859 have inspired many artists. In 1941 Jacob Lawrence painted a series of twenty-two gouaches on this theme, the only depiction of the abolitionist’s story in serial form; these were acquired by the DIA in 1955. Due to frequent loan requests for the fragile gouaches, the DIA worked with Jacob Lawrence to reproduce the series as screenprints so that the images could be more widely seen.
Jacob Lawrence wrote captions for each of his images in the John Brown series, adapting them from a nineteenth-century biography and imbuing them with the sound of old-fashioned speech. Here John Brown is seen arming men in New York state to help them protect runaway slaves.
Jacob Lawrence wrote captions for each of his images in the John Brown series, adapting them from a nineteenth-century biography and imbuing them with the sound of old-fashioned speech. Here John Brown is seen arming men in New York state to help them protect runaway slaves.
Details
Artist | Jacob Lawrence, American, 1917-2000 |
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Printer | Sirocco Screenprinters, American |
Publisher | Founders Society |
Publisher | Ives-Sillman, Inc., American, founded 1958 |
Title |
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Date | between 1974 and 1977 |
Medium | screenprint printed in color on wove paper |
Dimensions | Image: 20 × 14 inches (50.8 × 35.6 cm) |
Credit Line | Founders Society Purchase, Commissioned by Founders Society Detroit Institute of Arts, 1978 |
Accession Number | F1983.18.6 |
Department | African American Art |
Not On View |
Signed, Marks, Inscriptions
Signed | Signed, lower right: Jacob Lawrence 1977 |
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Marks | Two chop marks at lower right corner, to the left: Ives-Sillman Inc; to the right: Founders Society Detroit Institute of Arts |
Inscriptions | Inscribed in pencil, lower left: #6 7/60 Signed and dated in pencil, lower right: Jacob Lawrence 1977 |
Provenance
1983-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Published References
Sharp, Ellen. "The Legend of John Brown and the Series by Jacob Lawrence." Bulletin of the DIA 67, no. 4 (1993): 15-35.
Jacob Lawrence: Thirty Years of Prints (1963-1993) A Catalogue Raisonné. Seattle and London, 1994, pp. 38-40 (ill.).
Jacob Lawrence: Thirty Years of Prints (1963-1993) A Catalogue Raisonné. Seattle and London, 1994, pp. 38-40 (ill.).