Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Jacob Lawrence spent the majority of his life in the Northeast. He studied with the painter Charles Alston (1907–1977), who had a significant influence on his career. An extraordinarily talented painter and printmaker, Lawrence is most known for his Migration Series, a collection of sixty paintings that address the movement of African Americans from the southern to the northern regions of the United States. In this particular print, the artist references the themes of his Migration Series, his representation of the role African Americans in American history and increased participation in American life through the election process. His parents were born in the South and migrated north, and the physical upheaval families went through so that they could obtain increased rights appealed to him as a subject. The angular depictions of the figures and the presence of sharp lines are characteristic of Lawrence’s work.
Last Updated: 3/31/2017