27 Dec 2017
Jacob Lawrence: Lines of Influence
SCAD Museum of Art
Reviewed by Andy Gambrell
Jacob Lawrence is known for illustrating episodes from African American history. "Lines of Influence," on view at the SCAD Museum, goes a long way towards asserting Lawrence's authority as a master painter of universal stature and appeal.
The exhibition is divided into two sections, "Relations" and "Legacy." The former displays works by Lawrence alongside paintings by his contemporaries such as Josef Albers, who invited the artist to teach at Black Mountain College in the summer of 1946. Powerful images, such as Playland (1947), demonstrate Lawrence's fusion of a European modernist style with his vision of life in the United States.
In the "Legacy" galleries, Lawrence's influence is palpable in Jack Whitten's visceral collage, Black Monolith IV for Jacob Lawrence (2001), and Kara Walker's lyrical, imposing silhouettes in Four Idioms on Negro Art #4 Primitivism (2015).
When powerful content is embodied in expert form, the resulting masterworks are for everyone.
| Exhibition | Jacob Lawrence: Lines of Influence link |
| Start date | 07 Sep 2017 |
| End date | 04 Feb 2017 |
| Presenter | SCAD Museum of Art link |
| Venue | 601 Turner Boulevard, Savannah, GA, USA map |
| Image | Jacob Lawrence, The Card Game, 1953, tempera on board, 19 x 23.5 inches, gift of Dr. Walter O. and Mrs. Linda J. Evans, SCAD Museum of Art Permanent Collection, ©2017 Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society, New York |
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