Jacob Lawrence
Famous Painter of the 1920's
The Migration Series
Bio
Jacob Lawrence was an African American painter who dropped out of school at 16 to start attending art workshops in Harlem. Lawrence first became world famous when he painted his 60-panel migration series. This series that got him famous was painted on cardboard. The series depicted the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural south to the urban north as depicted in the picture to the right. Lawrence can be compared to Picasso because his paintings were colorful and abstract like Picasso's. Lawrence also had the same style known as cubism. Throughout his his early career he worked with many Harlem Renaissance painters. The majority of Jacob Lawrence's paintings were of the struggle of the average African-American.
Modern Day Version
Even though he died 5 years ago I would consider Alvin Carter a Modern Day version of Jacob Laurence. Carter was Known for his murals which were very colorful and they described the struggles of African-Americans like Lawrence's. His early life was even similar to Lawrence's. Carter dropped out of school as a young adult to sell his paintings and attend various art workshops.