Jacob Lawrence and the Legend of John Brown

January 15, 2010 - May 9, 2010

Three people seated at a table

Simultaneous to the exhibition of Color Balance: Paintings by Felrath Hines, the Ackland will present Jacob Lawrence and The Legend of John Brown in an adjoining gallery. Jacob Lawrence and the Legend of John Brown is a special exhibition featuring a suite of twenty-two screen prints chronicling the life of the famous and controversial nineteenth-century abolitionist. The exhibition coincides with the 150th anniversary of Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry. Related materials and programs will draw on the expertise of UNC-Chapel Hill faculty members in Afro-American Studies, American Studies, Art, History, and other departments to investigate Lawrence’s print series. Together with Color Balance, the exhibitions show two very different approaches to art making by artists of roughly similar ages and backgrounds.

Image Credit: Jacob Lawrence, American, 1917 – 2000; To the people he found worthy of trust, he communicated his plans., no. 22 from The Legend of John Brown, 1977; color screenprint, 20 x 25 3/4 in. (50.8 x 65.41 cm); Ackland Fund, 2005.11.7; (c) 2009 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York