Jacob Lawrence is known for his use of aesthetic
elements for social ends and the remarkable composition of his works.
After his narrative series,
Migration of the Negro
(1941), achieved widespread recognition he became
the first African American artist to receive sustained support from
mainstream art museums and patronage outside the black community both
during an era of legalized and institutionalized segregation.
Using the power of semi-abstract forms, Lawrence
addressed many of the great social and philosophical themes of the
twentieth century especially as they pertain to the lives and histories
of African Americans.
His work made visible the
everyday lives and contributions of black Americans and provides a
compassionate counterpoint to stereotypical images.
The tangle of arms and machetes in this print communicates the chaos of
the slave revolt on the Amistad, which precipitated a Supreme
Court ruling that advanced the abolitionist cause.
