Jacob Lawrence, artist, 82

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

Friday June 9 6:18 PM ET 

US artist Jacob Lawrence dies at 82

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Jacob Lawrence, whose use of bright colors and bold
images to capture the struggles of American blacks made him one of the
country's most celebrated painters, died Friday. He was 82.

Lawrence passed away in his sleep at his Seattle home early on Friday,
according to a statement from the Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation
that was founded by the artist and his wife to promote American art.

Lawrence shot to fame at the age of 24 when he completed an epic series of
60 paintings called ``Migration of the Negro,'' which blended mural,
realist and abstract styles to portray the journey of millions of blacks
from the South to the North after World War I.

The ``Migration'' series brought him wide acclaim and sparked hot demand
for his works in major galleries, making him the first African-American
artist to receive sustained recognition in the United States.

Born Jacob Armstead Lawrence in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1917, he started
studying art in Harlem in the 1930s, where he painted on themes of black
poverty, ill health, police brutality, and racism.

He became a tenured professor at Seattle's University of Washington in
1971, and retired as professor emeritus in 1986. He was actively painting
until a few weeks before his death.

Further details of his death were not immediately available. Lawrence is
survived by his wife of 59 years, Gwendolyn. A public memorial service
will be held in New York City, but a date and place have not yet been set.

Reuters/Variety 




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