English 
Nederlands 
Deutsch 
Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) made his breakthrough in 1941 with his iconic painting series ''The Great Migration', a series consisting of 60 panels that hangs half at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and half at the Phillips Collection in Washington. In it he tells the story of the mass relocation of the black population from the South of the US to the North. He developed his own autonomous painting style in the latter days of the Harlem Renaissance and is considered one of the most important African-American painters of the 20th century.
Discover the oeuvre of Jacob Lawrence
At the exhibition will feature 70 paintings, 25 drawings and 75 prints, in addition to photographs and objects from the artist's estate. It will include panels from his famous 'Migration Series', panels from the 'Struggle Series' and paintings and drawings surrounding Harriet Tubman, the woman who, through the Underground Railroad rescued dozens of enslaved people from the U.S. South.
Important subjects in his oeuvre include life in Harlem in the mid-twentieth century, African-American history, the struggle of black people for civil rights and - at the end of his life - "builders" as a symbol of artisans helping to rebuild the country. Jacob Lawrence's work is characterized by a figurative, narrative style, in which he uses "cubist" areas of color in compositions without emphatic depth.
Discover the story behind the artist
In order to tell you more about the life, oeuvre and historical stories behind Jacob Lawrence's works, we have created a website created. Here we take you into the life of Jacob Lawrence. We talk about how he grew up, about his childhood work in New York's Harlem in the 1930s, to his final decades in Seattle. But it also highlights different periods, works and historical figures he captured. During the exhibition, we will also share on this website several important milestones in African-American history, stories that are in danger of falling out of focus because of the current political climate in the United States.
Jacob Lawrence - African American Modernist is on view at Kunsthal KAdE, Amersfoort, from September 27, 2025 through January 4, 2026.
