Travel Tip: Art and Archaeology in United States
Legacy for the Generations: Jacob Lawrence's Legend of John Brown

For forty years, John Brown reflected on the hopeless and miserable condition of the slaves, 1978 Screenprint, edition 50/60 Collection of Derrick Johnson Photo courtesy of Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Legacy for the Generations: Jacob Lawrence's Legend of John Brown UNITED STATES LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA  •  Daura Gallery, Lynchburg College  •  Ongoing   In 1941, while living in New Orleans with his new wife, Gwendolyn, 24-year-old artist Jacob Lawrence (1917 - 2000) began a series of gouache paintings focused on the life of the abolitionist John Brown. More than 35 years later, the deteriorating paintings were in the permanent collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts. Lawrence revisited the series to produce screenprints based on the originals. The result was a limited edition portfolio of 22 hand-screened prints produced by Ives-Silverman Inc. of New Haven, Conn. They were published by the Founders Society of the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1978. A poem, John Brown, by Robert Hayden was commissioned to accompany the portfolio. The narrative tells the story of Brown’s assault on slavery by force with the support of Northern abolitionists. His most famous act was the ill-fated attack on the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry, Va., in 1859. Brown was captured, convicted of treason and hanged. Lynchburg College Web Site Contact: Daura Gallery Lynchburg College 1501 Lakeside Drive Lynchburg, VA 24501-3199 Tel: (1) 434 544 81 00 email this item to a friend