Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City but was brought up in a settlement
house in Harlem. This was the period of the Harlem Renaissance, a time of
sharply focused social awareness and a burgeoning black consciousness, which
nurtured the young Lawrence and opened his eyes to the life around him.
He began taking art lessons early, and during the Depression, he worked
for the WPA.
It was his own background in Harlem and the hard life of black Americans
that informed Lawrence's earliest work. His |
Migration Series, supported by grants from the Rosenwald Foundation,
was an immediate success and brought the twenty-four year-old to national
attention. Lawrence continued to work in series-possibly reflecting the
oral tradition of the black community-and the individual images, while powerful
on their own, have connective strength when viewed as a narrative.
Never one to shy away from human suffering, no matter how close to
home, |
Lawrence did Hillside Hospital Series based on his stay at the psychiatric
hospital in 194950. Occupational Therapy No. 2 is from
this series, and while it contains many of the elements of his earlier work-gestures
arrested, simple shapes with no modeling, and primary colors-there are also
humor and compassion. |
