McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
February 8, 2018 to May 6, 2018
As a young student of American history, Jacob Lawrence was frustrated
with the lack of narratives addressing the African American experience,
as well as the absence of black heroes from history books. He later
discovered that there were indeed black heroes to admire and emulate,
including Harriet Tubman. He was most fascinated, however, with the
leader of the 18th-century Haitian Revolution, Toussaint L’Ouverture
(1743–1803). In 1938 he painted his first image of the
narrative, but soon realized that this great and complex story needed to
be a series.
Eventually, Lawrence would create 41 panels about Toussaint L’Ouverture and the struggle for Haitian self-governance. A gifted printmaker, he decided to create a portfolio of 15 screenprints based on the panels.
Echoing Thomas Jefferson’s words that “all men are created equal,” Toussaint L’Ouverture said, “I was born a slave, but nature gave me the soul of a free man.” This sentiment informed his leadership of the Haitian Revolution, and created what was the first free colonial state in which race was not a factor in determining social status.
This exhibition is organized by Lyle Williams, Curator of Prints and Drawings, for the McNay Art Museum.
More images
The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture, No. 22: Settling down at St. Marc, he took possession of two important posts (detail), 1938. Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917–2000). Tempera on paper; 19 x 11 1/2 in. Courtesy Amistad Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, Aaron Douglas Collection.
Eventually, Lawrence would create 41 panels about Toussaint L’Ouverture and the struggle for Haitian self-governance. A gifted printmaker, he decided to create a portfolio of 15 screenprints based on the panels.
Echoing Thomas Jefferson’s words that “all men are created equal,” Toussaint L’Ouverture said, “I was born a slave, but nature gave me the soul of a free man.” This sentiment informed his leadership of the Haitian Revolution, and created what was the first free colonial state in which race was not a factor in determining social status.
This exhibition features 15 rarely seen silkscreen prints created
by American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917–2001) between 1986 and 1997. The
series portrays the life of Toussaint L’Ouverture (1742–1803), the
former slave turned leader of Haiti’s independence movement. L’Ouverture
led the fight to liberate Saint-Domingue from French colonial rule and
to emancipate the slaves during the 1791 Haitian Revolution, the first
successful campaign to abolish slavery in modern history. Lawrence had
explored the same subject more than 40 years earlier—when he was only 20
years old—in a series of paintings of the same title (now in the
Amistad Research Center, New Orleans). The celebrated paintings, which
were featured prominently at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1939, laid
the groundwork for Lawrence’s lifelong interest in the human quest for
freedom and social justice.
While he based these later prints on the earlier 11 x 19-inch
paintings, Lawrence distilled the story to 15 works from the original 41
panels and significantly expanded their scale. He worked closely with
DC-based master printmaker Lou Stovall to translate the colors and fluid
movement of the original tempera paint to each composition.
In the
print series, the narrative follows L’Ouverture from his birth to his
rise as the commander of the revolutionary army to his eventual capture
by Napoleon’s men. In the original painted series, Lawrence continued
the story through the death of L’Ouverture as a prisoner of war in 1803,
just one year before Haiti declared independence with the crowning of
Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines. In highlighting the life of the
courageous leader Toussaint L’Ouverture, Lawrence invites us to reflect
on Haiti’s transformation from an enslaved French colony to the first
black Western republic. At the same time, the series reminds us of the
country’s ongoing struggle to overcome poverty and political
instability.
Jacob Lawrence, Flotilla from Toussaint L’Ouverture, 1996. Screenprint. The Harmon and Harriet Kelley Foundation for the Arts. ˝ 2017 Jacob Lawrence / Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York
Photograph courtesy Davidson Galleries, Seattle.
This exhibition is organized by Lyle Williams, Curator of Prints and Drawings, for the McNay Art Museum.
More images
