Jacob Lawrence, Resident Artist Lecture 1970

Painter Jacob Lawrence, who claims that his work is generally autobiographical, shows examples of his paintings grouped by series (Harlem series, War series, Theater series, American History series, etc.), and talks about developing technical virtuosity and then backing away from it to better serve the content of the painting in this incomplete lecture. Also discussed are the easel program of the Roosevelt administration’s Federal Art Project, applying for fellowships, the speaker’s preference for working directly on a painting rather than from drawings, and illustrations for children’s books on Harriet Tubman and Aesop’s Fables.