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Published by Colin Savage, 2020-01-22 03:08:00

ANTIQUES AND THE ARTS WEEKLY

Issue 2020 01 31

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AUCTIONEERS
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10C — Antiques and The Arts Weekly — January 31, 2020 PROOF To: [email protected]
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Jacob Lawrence
The American Struggle

( continued from page 1C ) was drafted into the US Coast “War” series, completed with there, and the eyewitness doscopic and hectic. They go
Modern Art, Lawrence broke Guard, serving in that branch’s the support of a Guggenheim accounts and the struggle,” about their business with grim
the color barrier of the famously first integrated crew, one of the grant and quickly acquired by says Turner. “These are people determination: dirty, bloody,
white-dominated New York art earliest integrated regiments the Whitney Museum of Ameri- in the midst of struggle that exhausted, heads down and
world, and he did it with work in the US armed forces. In the can Art. In this, as in his pre- don’t know the outcome, aren’t jaws set. Even in compositions
that spoke directly to the Afri- role of combat artist, it was ceding series, he refreshed and sure of what the future may that focus primarily on a single
can American experience. part of his job to document the reenvisioned the traditional hold, but they know what figure — the one dedicated to
daily lives of the soldiers genre of history painting with they’re ready to fight for, lay Margaret (“Molly Pitcher”)
There was little opportunity aboard his ship, and he put his elemental modernist style down their life for.... The Corbin, titled “And a Woman
for Lawrence to immediately that experience to use after his and with the choices he made lengths that people will go to Mans a Cannon,” is a key exam-
follow up on this early, brilliant return from World War II. By about scale, presentation and get their freedom really under- ple — the protagonist does not
success. Within two years, he 1947, he had completed his subject matter. scores the principles underly- stand as if on a stage but is fully
ing the American nation.” integrated into the surrounding
“We crossed the River at McKonkey’s Ferry 9 miles above The present exhibition’s cura- Turner also notes that the action, just one figure in a much
Trenton...the night was excessively severe...which the men tors — Elizabeth Hutton Turn- “Struggle” paintings were pro- larger struggle.
bore without the least murmur... — Tench Tilghman, 27 er of the University of Virginia, duced during a time when
December 1776” by Jacob Lawrence, Panel 10, 1954, from formerly of the Phillips Collec- American life was fractured by Focusing on real people and
“Struggle: From the History of the American People,” 1954– tion, and Austen Barron Bailly fears of possible nuclear holo- real first-person accounts is
56. Egg tempera on hardboard. Metropolitan Museum of Art. of the Crystal Bridges Museum caust, by McCarthyism, and by another way in which Lawrence
©The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, of American Art, formerly of the growing racial strife, all topics makes history feel real to view-
Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Peabody Essex Museum — in which Lawrence was person- ers. Choosing people and pas-
argue that Lawrence’s wartime ally invested. In the “Struggle” sages that occupy the margins
experience engendered not only series, Turner says, “he found a of conventional history ensures
the “War” series but also mechanism for the way art can that the sense of realness goes
“Struggle,” which he began intervene and for it to begin to beyond the standard narratives
researching in 1949 and com- speak to the heart and mind of that center the contributions of
pleted over a three-year period the viewer.” white colonists and settlers. “I
from 1954 to 1956. The triumph think that he is laying claim to
of the Allied victory was cause He did this, in part, by resist- mainstream American history,”
for celebration in America, but ing the fantasist, heroizing says Bailly, “by imagining what
there were also the realities of impulses that had characterized he as an American artist, as a
the toll that the war had taken, history painting in previous black man and a black artist,
reflected in “War” series can- generations. His soldiers, states- what his version of American
vases like “Depression” and men and other patriots do not history would be.” He does this,
“The Letter.” It is no coinci- embody the chiseled ideal of it is crucial to point out, not
dence, then, that so much of the ancient statuary, nor do they through revisionism but
“Struggle” series also deals strive for a dazzling, flesh-and through meticulous research,
with war, primarily the Ameri- blood verisimilitude —all are digging deep into the stories of
can Revolution and the War of depicted in the flat, semi- Crispus Attucks, Sacajawea,
1812, and similarly tries to bal- abstract style of the artist’s ear- Tecumseh, the unnamed
ance rejoicing with loss. lier series, with an added ele- enslaved people who petitioned
ment of fractured cubism that for their freedom in 1773 and
“He’s definitely wanting to makes the paintings seem kalei- rebelled in 1810, the immi-
celebrate people that were grants who left all they knew,
the workers who built the canals
“I cannot speak sufficiently in praise of the firmness and delib- “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this and many others. He also dis-
eration with which my whole line received their approach... crisis, shrink from the service of his country. —Thomas tilled lesser-known phrases and
— Andrew Jackson, New Orleans, 1815” by Jacob Lawrence, Paine, 1776” by Jacob Lawrence, Panel 7, 1956, from “Strug- moments from iconic events and
Panel 25, 1956, from “Struggle: From the History of the Ameri- gle: From the History of the American People,” 1954-56. Egg speeches — the closing lines
can People,” 1954-56. Egg tempera on hardboard. Collection of tempera on hardboard. Renee and Chaim Gross Founda- from Patrick Henry’s “Give me
Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross ©The Jacob and Gwendolyn tion. ©The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foun- liberty or give me death” speech
Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society dation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Pho- and the Declaration of Indepen-
(ARS), New York. Photography by Bob Packert/PEM. tography by Bob Packert/PEM. dence; a forgotten passage in
Henry Clay’s address to Con-
“...for freedom we want and will have, for we have served “...again the rebels rushed furiously on our men. — a Hes- gress in which he imagines the
this cruel land long enuff... — a Georgia slave, 1810” by sian soldier” by Jacob Lawrence, Panel 8, 1954, from “Strug- tribulations of a single sailor
Jacob Lawrence, Panel 27, 1956, from “Struggle: From the gle: From the History of the American People,” 1954–56. Egg impressed into involuntary ser-
History of the American People,” 1954-56. Egg tempera on tempera on hardboard. Collection of Harvey and Harvey- vitude; the moment when
hardboard. Collection of Norma Crampton Bergquist. ©The Ann Ross ©The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Sacajawea, stolen from her fam-
Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seat- Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. ily as a child, realizes that the
tle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photography by Bob Packert/PEM. Shoshone chief she is translat-
ing for is her brother, Chief
Cameahwait — even as she pro-
vides a point of entry to her
homeland that would eventual-
ly end in genocide.

“He had such a capacity of syn-
thesizing and also the ability to
read history,” said Turner of
Lawrence. “These narrative
cycles start in the library, and
he’s reading these passages, and
then he’s visualizing it, and
then he’s codifying it and put-
ting words with images...to pro-
pel you through the narrative.”
Indeed, most of the 25 known
paintings in the series — the
five paintings missing from the
show are currently unlocated —
are inscribed with the text upon
which they are based, usually
on the back of the canvas. One
of the great contributions of the
present exhibition has been to
identify the sources and the his-
torical events to which each
painting is connected, and to
codify their titles to reflect those
sources. The result has been to
underscore the intellectual and
historical rigor of the series, and
to allow it once again to be read
as a continuous — if not strictly
progressive — narrative, with
each canvas blending word,
image and historical fact to
parse an aspect of the evolving
struggle for freedom in the
United States.

Given that rigor, given the rev-
erence with which Lawrence

January 31, 2020 — Antiques and The Arts Weekly — 13C

“I alarmed almost every house till I got to Lexington. —
Paul Revere” by Jacob Lawrence, Panel 4, 1954, from
“Struggle: From the History of the American People,” 1954-
56. Egg tempera on hardboard. Collection of Allan and Mary
Kollar. ©The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foun-
dation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

clearly regarded the founding introductory essay in the cata- “...If we fail, let us fail like men, and expire “...we mutually pledge to each other our
stories of America and the prin- log for “Jacob Lawrence: An together in one common struggle... — Henry Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honour
ciples under which they were American Struggle,” scholar Clay, 1813” by Jacob Lawrence, Panel 23, — 4 July 1776” by Jacob Lawrence, Panel 6,
founded, and given the wide Stephen Locke articulates how 1956, from “Struggle: From the History of 1955, from “Struggle: From the History of
public and institutional respect Lawrence’s series is a similar the American People,” 1954-56. Egg tempera the American People,” 1954–56. Egg tempera
that he enjoyed, why should this exercise in truth-telling, break- on hardboard. Collection of Dr Kenneth on hardboard. Collection of Harvey and
series have gone so underrecog- ing from earlier, more rose-col- Clark. ©The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Harvey-Ann Ross. ©The Jacob and Gwendo-
nized? How can it be true that ored histories. “Not another his- Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists lyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/
the Peabody Essex Museum’s tory of winners and losers or Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photogra- Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Pho-
installation is its very first another history presented by phy by Bob Packert/PEM. tography by Bob Packert/PEM.
museum showing? The curators the people on the top at the “Thousands of American citizens have been “Listen, Father! The Americans have not yet
parse this question thoughtful- expense of folks on the bottom,” torn from their country and from every- defeated us by land; neither are we sure they
ly. Some of it has to do with how Locke writes, “his is a more pro- thing dear to them: they have been dragged have done so by water — we therefore wish to
it was produced and funded, ductive way to image America on board ships of war of a foreign nation. — remain here and fight our enemy... — Tecum-
Turner notes. Whereas Law- because it shows that the coun- Madison, 1 June 1812” by Jacob Lawrence, seh to the British, Tippecanoe, 1811” by Jacob
rence had the support of the try is conceived in conflict and Panel 19, 1956, from “Struggle: From the His- Lawrence, Panel 21, 1956, from “Struggle:
Guggenheim Foundation for the combat, debate and divisive- tory of the American People,” 1954-56. Egg From the History of the American People,”
“War” series, “Struggle” was ness. And in developing a new tempera on hardboard. Collection of Harvey 1954–56. Egg tempera on hardboard. Collec-
made essentially on spec, with form to talk about struggle, and Harvey-Ann Ross. ©The Jacob and tion of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross. ©The
the hope of funding it as a con- Lawrence gives us a new frame- Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foun-
tinuing project through sales. work to understand the Ameri- Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New dation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS),
And while those first 30 paint- can experience.” York. Photography by Stephen Petegorsky. New York. Photography by Bob Packert/PEM.
ings did sell, as both Turner and
Bailly are quick to point out, the It makes a certain amount of
purchaser, perhaps seeing it as sense that this framework is, to
an investment, relatively quick- some extent, incomplete — the
ly turned around and resold the full series, as imagined, was
paintings individually. “The never realized, and only 25 of
whole coherence of the project the completed paintings have
got eroded early on,” Bailly been identified, located and are
observes, “and Lawrence him- on view today. In acknowledging
self moved on,” giving up on cre- these gaps, the exhibition allows
ating more works in the series. for the possibility that new his-
Thus, among the other misfor- tories are yet to be written and
tunes, the series has suffered is envisioned; in fact, the Peabody
the lingering presumption that Essex Museum has invited
it is “incomplete.” three contemporary artists —
Bethany Collins, Hank Willis
The hesitant public reception Thomas and Derrick Adams —
may also have had something to to create artistic and written
do with the aesthetic tastes of responses for the exhibition.
the time. Turner notes that the
series’ debut coincided with the “It’s not finished in the way
rise of Abstract Expressionism, that America is not finished,”
which had eroded the populari- says Turner of Jacob Lawrence’s
ty of the kind of narrative, fig- “Struggle” series. “If it’s not fin-
ural art that Lawrence was ished, then the unfinished busi-
doing. Bailly also notes that ness is ours. It’s up to us to keep
Lawrence was “pushing his deeply thinking this through.”
style in some pretty intense
directions” with “Struggle” — The Peabody Essex Museum is
“more angular, prismatic at 161 Essex Street in Salem,
expressions” that may have Massachusetts. For information,
been outside the comfort zone of www.pem.org or 978-745-9500.
some collectors. But it could also
be that the history itself, Law- “I shall hazard much and can possibly gain nothing by the “...is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the
rence’s take on the cherished issue of the interview... — Hamilton before his duel with price of chains and slavery? — Patrick Henry, 1775” by
origin stories of the United Burr, 1804” by Jacob Lawrence, Panel 17, 1956, from “Strug- Jacob Lawrence, Panel 1, 1955, from “Struggle: From the
States, was also outside viewers’ gle: From the History of the American People,” 1954-56. Egg History of the American People,” 1954–56. Egg tempera on
comfort zones. He was a black tempera on hardboard. Collection of Harvey and Harvey- hardboard. Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross.
artist, known for painting black Ann Ross. ©The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence ©The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation,
history (with the partial excep- Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Seattle/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photogra-
tion of the “War” series), and Photography by Bob Packert/PEM. phy by Bob Packert/PEM.
“the idea that he was moving
into American history writ
large.... I think that people
weren’t quite sure what to do
with that,” says Bailly.

Lawrence’s attempts to tell
American history as a history of
struggle, and to center the voic-
es of those directly engaged in
that struggle, is deeply reminis-
cent of a recent, similar attempt,
the New York Time’s “1619 Proj-
ect,” a special section in 2019
focusing on how those who suf-
fered under chattel slavery, and
their descendants, have served
and yearned for the American
promise of freedom, indepen-
dence and democracy. In an

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