School Room

Series TitleHarlem Series, No. 8

Artist Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917 - 2000)

Date1943

MediumWatercolor and opaque watercolor with selectively applied glaze, over a graphite pencil underdrawing on textured wove paper

DimensionsUnframed: 14 1/4 x 21 1/4 inches (36.2 x 53.98 cm)
Framed: 21 1/4 x 28 1/8 inches (53.98 x 71.44 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. C. Humbert Tinsman Jr. and Mr. and Mrs. James E. C. Tinsman in memory of C. Humbert and Julia Tinsman

Object number2002.12.6

SignedIn ink, upper left on recto: "J. Lawrence 43"

On View

Not on view

Collections

American Art

Terms

DescriptionThis colorful gouache depicts the inside of a school room filled with African-American children, who pursue a variety of activities. A prominent blackboard with illustrations related presumably to the day's lessons serves as a backdrop to this active composition.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Jacob Lawrence's compelling scenes explore the successes and struggles of African American history and everyday life. School Room, painted at a time when Lawrence focused on visual stories found in the Harlem neighborhood in New York City, shows children actively engaged in learning. The bold colors and flat, blocky forms of the composition echo the students' chalkboard drawings. Lawrence took inspiration for his vibrant, deceptively simple style and abstracted approach to form from children's art, which many modern artists admired for its purity of expression.

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