The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) presents Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle (March 5–May 23, 2021), reuniting the artist’s revolutionary 30-panel series Struggle: From the History of the American People (1954–56) for the first time since 1958. This is the only West Coast stop of the exhibition’s five-city national tour. Created during the civil rights era by one of the greatest narrative artists of the 20th century, the series depicts pivotal moments in early American history with an emphasis on the experiences of Black people, Native Americans, and women. New work created for the exhibition by Derrick Adams, Bethany Collins, and Hank Willis Thomas reinforce the timeliness of Struggle by engaging themes such as democracy, justice, truth, and the politics of inclusion.
Reunited for the first time in more than 60 years, the Struggle series brings American history to life through energetic, expressive paintings that explore the boundary between figuration and abstraction. For this reunion, 26 of the Struggle paintings are accounted for, including one, Panel 16, which was discovered only recently while the exhibition was on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Four panels still remain unlocated; of these, the known works are presented alongside reproductions of the missing paintings, as well as those too fragile to travel.
Lawrence (1917-2000) was one of the most prominent and celebrated Black artists of the 20th century. His artistic training was fostered by the luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance and inspired by the stories he heard from elders about the abolitionist movement, Black heroes, and familial struggles. Because of the lack of Black history taught in American schools, Lawrence chose in his early work to depict iconic figures like abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman. With a style that was expressive and symbolic in form, Lawrence combined realism and abstraction to create pared down compositions brimming with vitality and graphic strength. Lawrence went on to create compelling, often metaphorical stories of the Black experience and the history of the United States.
Lawrence’s visual style conveys the physical, emotional, and ideological struggles inherent to the country’s founding. He saw American history as a complex shared experience and his paintings sought to create a broader, more encompassing narrative that celebrated prominent historical figures alongside those unsung and underrepresented. The American Struggle presents Lawrence’s paintings in dialogue with new work by contemporary artists Derrick Adams, Bethany Collins, and Hank Willis Thomas; their work, also informed by deep engagement with historical research, powerfully asserts that America’s struggles continue in earnest today.
Born in 1917, Lawrence broke through the color line of New York’s segregated art world when, at the age of 23, he created the Migration Series, a historical narrative of the Great Migration that was instantly recognized as a masterpiece and became the first work by a Black artist to be acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. The series was exhibited at SAM from January 21 through April 23, 2017; the museum welcomed over 10,000 visitors during its three-day free opening weekend alone.
“Lawrence’s Migration Series opened at SAM the day after the 2017 presidential inauguration, and its message of determination in the historic fight for racial justice proved especially relevant for our audiences at the time,” says Theresa Papanikolas, Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art. “Today, we present Struggle at another watershed moment, as the fight for justice gains urgency. Exploring and revealing history’s resonance in the present is one of Lawrence’s great strengths as an artist. In centering not just the history’s heroes but a variety of participants in the narratives that make up our nation’s story, he reminds us that the struggle for freedom belongs to all of us.”
SAM’s presentation of The American Struggle will include a gallery dedicated to art by today’s youth imagining the “31st panel” of Lawrence’s series. 12 works will be on view, all by artists between the ages of 13–21 who were invited by SAM to submit artwork considering the themes of the series and depicting the contemporary and ongoing American struggle. Submissions were reviewed by SAM’s Teen Arts Group, an intensive program for high school–aged youth who are interested in leadership and want to make SAM fun and engaging for teens.
