Artist
Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000)
Currently on view
Title
Dream Series #5: The Library
Date
1967
Medium
Tempera on board
Dimensions
24 x 35 7/8 in. (61.0 x 91.1 cm.)
Credits
Funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Collectors' Circle, the Henry D. Gilpin and John Lambert Funds, and the Pennsylvania Academy Women's Committee
Accession Number
1987.34
Additional Information
Depicting activities ranging from introspection to animated discussion, Lawrence represents over thirty-five figures in this vibrant library scene. Public libraries appear frequently as a subject in Lawrence’s paintings, embodying a space where African Americans can access their identity, culture, and history. For Lawrence, Harlem’s Schomburg Library played a critical role in his development, providing a facility where he could research such heroes of the African-American community as John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman, all of whom became subjects for Lawrence’s work.
Lawrence studied with Charles Alston at the American Artists School in New York and worked as part of the easel-painting project of the WPA during the Depression. Fellow Harlem artists Romare Bearden and Gwendolyn Knight, whom he married, were a source of inspiration, as well as artists he became acquainted with at Edith Halpert’s Downtown Gallery, including Horace Pippin, Stuart Davis, and Ben Shahn.