The Shoemaker

1092 Words3 Pages

The Shoemaker

Jacob Lawrence, was one of the most creative and extraordinary artist of the 20th century. He died June 9, 2000 at the age of 82. Jacob’s experience and use of the Cubism style, which was pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, made him one the first artist of color to receive world renowned recognition at the age of 21. Jacobs further defined his style as Dynamic Cubism. The use of bold water-based paints, angular forms on boards and paper were his self-taught methods of expressing his creations. Jacob’s “Urban Experience” interpretations are simple but complex in that each considers the human experience. Growing up in Harlem, Jacobs creations often captured the beauty and the challenges that he had to face. This is often brought in the faces of the images that artfully press to paper.

I chose to describe Jacob Lawrence because of the theme of relatable characteristics that each painting that I reviewed to brought to my remembrance For example the Barber Shop rendering from Jacobs spun my thoughts back to the simpler times of my youth. I would spend hours at the barbershop listening to all the stories and news of the day. Many of relatives had paintings similar to Lawrence’s style and looking over Mr. Lawrence’s work has a certain familiarity that I find comforting. Additionally, his attention to color, pattern and his detail research prior to producing a painting, certainly peaked my interest in becoming more familiar with the man and his works. His works were more recently viewed at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Nebraska at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, and Museum of Modern Art (Phillips Collection)

Description/ Analysis

I chose to analyze Lawrence’s work “The Shoemaker”. The shoemak...

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Works Cited

Bearden, Romare, Sam Gilliam, Jr., Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence, Tom Lloyd, William Williams, and Hale Woodruff. "The Black Artist in America: A Symposium." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 27, no. 5 (January, 1969).

Josef Albers and Ad Reinhardt to Ives-Sillman. Romare Bearden and Harry B. Henderson, Jr., A “History of African-American Artists”, p. 300. Nesbett L77-5.

Lawrence, Jacob. “Jacob Lawrence Talks about Color.” Jacob Lawrence: Over the Line. Flash ed. Phillips Collection, 2001. Web. 12 Mar. 2009.

Lawrence, Jacob, The Shoemaker, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1945.

Paul, Stella. "Modern Storytellers: Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Faith Ringgold". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/most/hd_most.htm (October 2004)

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