Jacob Lawrence (American, born 1917) Seaman’s Belt, 1945 Gouache on paper, 21 x 29" Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David K. Anderson to The Martha Jackson Collection, 1974

Jacob Lawrence is an artist who grew up in Harlem, the black section of New York City, during the 1930s. He first learned to draw with crayons when his mother left him at the Utopia Neighborhood House while she went to work. He learned his skills mostly by practicing and meeting other artists who helped him.

Lawrence likes to tell stories with his paintings. Many of his paintings are like pages in a book, telling the stories of black history or stories of his own life experiences. When artists make many paintings on one theme or subject, they are called a series of paintings. Jacob Lawrence has painted a series on the life of Harriet Tubman, a black woman who organized the Underground Railroad. This was not really a railroad with trains, but a way for anti-slavery people to help slaves escape to the north and Canada. He also painted a series on the life of John Brown and Frederick B. Douglass, two famous African-Americans. Can you find out who these famous men were? This painting is of an object, The Seaman's Belt, which must have interested Jacob Lawrence. Artists often train their eyes by painting still lifes, which are paintings of objects arranged by the artist. What other objects do you see in this still life? Can you think of a story to go with this painting?