Deconstructing Lawrence’s Struggle Series: Panel 12

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Experiment Station

Jacob Lawrence, Struggle … From the History of the American People, no. 12: And a Woman Mans a Cannon (Molly Corbin, Defense of Ft. Washington, North Manhattan Island, November 16, 1776), 1955. Egg tempera on hardboard, 16 x 12 in. Private Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross. © 2015 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

This spring, former Phillips curator Beth Turner taught an undergraduate practicum at the University of Virginia focusing on Jacob Lawrence’s Struggle series. In this multi-part blog series, responses from Turner’s students in reference to individual works from the series will be posted each week.

Panel 12 of the Struggle series tells the story of Margaret Cochran Corbin, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and the first woman to receive a military pension. Corbin originally served as a cook and laundress for the militia, but soon joined the battle as a matross, or cannon operator. When her husband’s matross partner was killed in action, Corbin took up the task herself. As the fight wore on, Corbin’s husband was also killed and she was left to operate the cannons alone. Although she was inexperienced in combat, Corbin was described as having excellent aim, a fact that the British did not overlook. With multiple British troops firing at her, Corbin held her ground and was the last cannon to stop firing in battle.

Though the entire piece details the narrative of Margaret Cochran Corbin, she is rather obscured in the panel. Filling almost the entire left side of the painting, Corbin’s dress is the same tan brown with abstracted shadows as the background and appears to blend in almost seamlessly. She is shown with her back to the viewer, focusing on the cannon fire. Additionally, the two accompanying figures appear much more dynamic. Lawrence is not allowing the viewer to see the most important part of the narrative. Instead, he provides insight through the text. In a removed, objective tone Lawrence reveals what is hidden in the panel’s abstraction, creating a relationship between the text and image that gives both new meaning.

Madeline Bartel

Deconstructing Lawrence’s Struggle Series: Panel 1

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Experiment Station

Jacob Lawrence, Struggle … From the History of the American People, no. 1: Is Life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?, 1955-56. Egg tempera on hardboard, 16 x 12 in. Private Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross. © 2015 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

“…is life so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” – Patrick Henry, 1775

This panel shows the tenacious reaction to Patrick Henry’s 1775 call to arms. Given at the Virginia Convention in Richmond, VA, Henry’s words created such a fervor among the audience that George Mason stated, “Every word he says not only engages, but commands the attention and your actions are no longer your own when he addresses them.”

The forcefulness of a community coming together to fight a common injustice is something Lawrence saw as applicable not only in the 18th century, but also during his lifetime. The year of this panel’s production saw many uprisings in the fight for civil rights, including the December beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott. Tremendous tension was building as many southern states combatted the Supreme Court’s rulings for integration laws on multiple occasions, including the passage of Brown II, which stated that school integration must most forward “with all deliberate speed.” This unease spiraled in many communities and resulted in the murders of two Civil Rights activists, Reverend George W. Lee and Lamar Smith, as well as the murder of teenager Emmett Till for whistling at a white woman in Money, MS. Lawrence was no doubt aware of these tragedies and the massive amount of support they provoked. This panel is not only a call to arms for the Revolutionary War, but also aims to arouse the same fierce response to contemporary events. Using the upraised fists that would later become a symbol of the Black Panther party, Lawrence guides the viewer’s eye through the crowd before settling on the ominous upper right corner of the panel. Devoid of anything except for a few blood splatters, the future of the struggle is left in a state of ambiguity.

Madeline Bartel

A Microsite for Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Experiment Station

If you’ve been to the Phillips, you’ve likely encountered Jacob Lawrence’s epic Migration Series, a sequence of 60 paintings of which the Phillips owns 30 (the rest live at the Museum of Modern Art in New York). Since their acquisition in 1942, these works have played a critical role at the heart of the museum’s collection, inspiring vast educational resources, performances, exhibitions, and community programs.

Visit the crowdfunding campaign to learn more.

We’re excited to announce plans to launch a Jacob Lawrence Microsite next summer, but we need your help to make it happen! Visit our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign through Dec. 10 to learn more about what the microsite will look like, the resources users will have access to, and where donations will go. This is a particularly critical moment as the launch of the microsite will coincide with the co-organized exhibition Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series that will be presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in spring 2015 and then at the Phillips in fall 2016.

Along with the Phillips’s treasure trove of knowledge and insights about Jacob Lawrence amassed over the years, the site will feature never-before-published video interviews with the artist, high-resolution images of all 60 panels in the series, biographical materials, an interactive map, archival photographs, and audio and video clips of musical, literary, and historical events of the time. The interactive site will engage visitors with the powerful history and contemporary context of migration through the lens of Lawrence’s striking visual masterwork.

In addition to a warm fuzzy feeling, your contribution comes with some other benefits. From stickers to curator-led tours, we have a few perks to say “thank you.”

Help us spread the word! Share the Jacob Lawrence Microsite Indiegogo campaign page with friends, family, and anyone you think might be interested using http://igg.me/at/jacob-lawrence. Watch #LawrenceLegacy for updates and progress!