The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

The Burning

The Burning

1997
(American, 1917–2000)
Sheet: 56.2 x 81.6 cm (22 1/8 x 32 1/8 in.)
© The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Did You Know?

Jacob Lawrence reinterpreted a series of paintings to make these prints, changing their forms, composition, colors, and scale—a process that he described as “another creative step.”

Description

These prints reinterpret a series of paintings that African American artist Jacob Lawrence made about Toussaint L’Ouverture, a Haitian revolutionary. Born into slavery, L’Ouverture led an uprising that freed Haiti from European rule. After hearing the story as a young man and being struck that it had been omitted from his formal education, Lawrence began to paint episodes from L’Ouverture’s biography, using bright colors and simple forms to evoke its drama.
  • 1999-2007
    Collection of Health Legacy of Cleveland, Inc., Cleveland, OH
    February 6, 2007
    Swann Galleries, New York, NY
    February 19, 2008
    Swann Galleries, New York, NY
    DC Moore Gallery, New York, NY
    June 3, 2019
    the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Nesbett, Peter T., Jacob Lawrence, and Patricia Hills. Jacob Lawrence: The Complete Prints, 1963-2000 : a Catalogue Raisonné. Seattle: Francine Seders Gallery, in association with University of Washington Press, 2001. p. 71-85, nos. L86-2–L97-5
  • New Narratives: Contemporary Works on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 19, 2023-April 14, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=The Burning|url=false|author=Jacob Lawrence, Lou Stovall Workshop, Inc., Amistad Research Center|year=1997|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.79.12