Happy 100th Birthday Jacob Lawrence!
by Gregg Chadwick 100 years ago today, the seminal artist Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. When Lawrence was in his teens his family moved to Harlem in New York City, where he studied art with Charles Alston at the Harlem Art Workshop. When Lawrence graduated from the American Artists School in New York he became a participant in the WPA Federal Art Project. The young artist broke new ground in 1941 with The Migration Series which garnered national attention. I find the video below from the Phillips Collection in which Lawrence discusses The Migration Series fascinating: During World War II, while in the United States Coast Guard, first as a public relations specialist on the USS Sea Cloud, and then as a combat artist on the USS Gen. Richardson, Lawrence created a series of artworks documenting his vantage point on the war. Jacob Lawrence No. 2 Control Panel, Nerve Center of Ship, gouache and watercolor on board Co...