Jacob Lawrence Interviews
What made this series complete in Lawrence’s estimation—what tied many together as one—was the vision of collective action, a shared decision to get on the train or start walking and head north. . . . I believe Lawrence’s Migration Series presents us with a metaphor for the human condition—our desire to be free—to seek, to strive, to overcome, and to arrive. As he saw it, “This was a continuous part of the—I started to say the Black struggle—but the American struggle from slavery.” —Elizabeth Hutton Turner, 2016
Jacob Lawrence Interviews
Of the many interviews Jacob Lawrence granted over his lifetime, the two filmed (and until now unpublished) interviews commissioned by The Phillips Collection in 1992 and in 2000 are perhaps most distinguished by their primacy and recency in the archive of Lawrence scholarship and exhibition history. The October 2, 1992, interview was the first to focus exclusively on the Migration Series; the 2000 interview, done in preparation for his last lifetime retrospective, was, in fact, the artist’s last such conversation.
Jacob Lawrence on Individual Panels of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 1 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 1 of The Migration Series [ 0:39 ]
View Panel 1Jacob Lawrence on Panel 6 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 6 of The Migration Series [ 1:15 ]
View Panel 6Jacob Lawrence on Panel 9 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 9 of The Migration Series [ 2:20 ]
View Panel 9Jacob Lawrence on Panel 11 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 11 of The Migration Series [ 1:19 ]
View Panel 11Jacob Lawrence on Panel 15 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 15 of The Migration Series [ 1:41 ]
View Panel 15Jacob Lawrence on Panel 19 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 19 of The Migration Series [ 2:07 ]
View Panel 19Jacob Lawrence on Panel 22 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 22 of The Migration Series [ 3:07 ]
View Panel 22Jacob Lawrence on Panel 25 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 25 of The Migration Series [ 2:20 ]
View Panel 25Jacob Lawrence on Panel 27 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 27 of The Migration Series [ 2:20 ]
View Panel 27Jacob Lawrence on Panel 31 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 31 of The Migration Series [ 1:52 ]
View Panel 31Jacob Lawrence on Panel 44 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 44 of The Migration Series [ 1:11 ]
View Panel 44Jacob Lawrence on Panel 45 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 45 of The Migration Series [ 2:12 ]
View Panel 45Jacob Lawrence on Panel 52 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 52 of The Migration Series [ 1:40 ]
View Panel 52Jacob Lawrence on Panel 53 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 53 of The Migration Series [ 1:44 ]
View Panel 53Jacob Lawrence on Panel 54 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 54 of The Migration Series [ 2:39 ]
View Panel 54Jacob Lawrence on Panel 58 of The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on Panel 58 of The Migration Series [ 1:31 ]
View Panel 58
Jacob Lawrence on The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on The Migration Series [ 1:16 ] JL 1-3-b
Jacob Lawrence on working with Gwendolyn Knight on The Migration Series [ 1:51 ] JL 6-on media
Jacob Lawrence on media used in The Migration Series [ 1:09 ] JL 1-1-a and JL 1-1-b
Jacob Lawrence on Edith Halpert's American Negro Art exhibition [ 2:19 ] JL 2-2-i
Jacob Lawrence on Edith Halpert's sale of The Migration Series [ 0:40 ] JL 1-1-g
Jacob Lawrence on his familial ties to migration [ 1:40 ] Jacob Lawrence on newspaper accounts of migration
Jacob Lawrence on newspaper accounts of migration [ 1:12 ] JL 1-2-e
Jacob Lawrence on beauty and struggle during the Great Migration [ 1:06 ] Jacob Lawrence on symbols of movement in The Migration Series
Jacob Lawrence on symbols of movement in The Migration Series [ 0:42 ]
Jacob Lawrence on his life in Harlem and artistic inspiration
JL 1-2-h and 1-2-i
Jacob Lawrence on Harlem's Apollo Theater and Studio 306 [ 2:46 ] Jacob Lawrence on Jay Leyda, former MoMA film curator, and meeting José Clemente Orozco
Jacob Lawrence on Jay Leyda, former MoMA film curator, and meeting José Clemente Orozco [ 1:13 ] JL 1-3-i
Jacob Lawrence on mentor Charles Alston [ 1:19 ] JL 1-1-z
Jacob Lawrence on evolution of subject matter drawn from the Harlem community [ 1:33 ] JL 2-2-b
Jacob Lawrence on Augusta Savage [ 1:29 ] JL 1-1-d
Jacob Lawrence on mentors in the Harlem community [ 1:04 ] JL 2-3-i
Jacob Lawrence on Harlem's collaborative artistic community [ 1:51 ] JL 1-2-ab
Jacob Lawrence on growing up in the Harlem community [ 1:24 ] Jacob Lawrence on Josef Albers and Black Mountain College
Jacob Lawrence on Josef Albers and Black Mountain College. Pictured with Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence. [ 1:39 ] JL 2-2-a CHRON
Jacob Lawrence on his series The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture [ 1:19 ] JL 2-3-e CHRON
Jacob Lawrence on his experience in a mental hospital [ 0:41 ] JL 1-2-3
Jacob Lawrence on his first one-man show [ 0:49 ]