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Imagining Work: Jacob Lawrence

The Harlem Renaissance - Notable Figures

Langston Hughes

Zora Neale Hurston

Gordon Parks

American Gothic

"Forward," a 1967 painting by Jacob Lawrence, dramatizes the life of Harriet Tubman. Known as the Moses of her people, she is shown here urging a group of barefoot fugitives north to freedom.

New Deal Art Projects

During the Depression many artists, including Dorothea Lange and Jacob Lawrence, were hired through work programs created under the New Deal. Because of programs like the Farm Security Administration and other Federal Arts Projects, artists were provided steady employment.

Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series

Between 1940-1941, Jacob Lawrence would paint 60 pictures that would eventually comprise his landmark "Migration Sereis." The paintings depict the history of the Black Migration, the motivations behind it and the cultural changes that occurred as a result.

History of the Black Migration

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