In this painting, Jacob Lawrence evokes the vibrant sense of community and energy in Harlem, even without depicting the city itself. After World War I, during what is known as the Great Migration, millions of African Americans relocated from agrarian regions in the southern states to cities in the North.

The Builders and Harlem Street Scene show Lawrence’s interest in the vibrancy of everyday life—not only in the particular activities shown, but in the humanity and dignity of the people. CAPTION Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917–2000). Harlem Street Scene, 1975. Screenprint on white wove paper, Sheet: 30 7/16 x 22 1/2 in. (77.3 x 57.2 cm).

SEEING AMERICA: Jacob Lawrence’s Summer Street Scene in Harlem, 1948 acob Lawrence’s modernist painting captures the exuberance of post-World War II Harlem. The Art Inspired by the outburst of creativity during the Harlem Renaissance, especially the sounds of jazz, Summer Street Scene celebrates the people

Jacob Lawrence Title Harlem Street Scene Place United States (Artist's nationality:) Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers ...

It dates to 1948. Here we are, as we often are, with Jacob Lawrence on the streets of Harlem. Jennifer Padgett: [0:20] Lawrence has depicted a medical emergency. We have two ambulance attendants dressed in blue, hauling a patient on a stretcher. To the side, we see a paramedic with a stethoscope peeking out of his pocket. Beth: [0:33] This may ...

Lawrence found inspiration in the Harlem community where he was raised. His early work depicts scenes of Harlem life—people, rooms, facades, sidewalks, streets, and storefronts—using bold colors and elemental shapes in commercial tempera [poster] paints on lightweight brown paper.

Jacob Lawrence witnessed the innovative and improvised lifestyles created by the convergence of the Great Migration, the Depression, the Jazz Age, and the Harlem Renaissance. Inspired by the Harlem community's interest in the stories of its heritage, Lawrence became the storyteller or visual griot of the neighborhood.

This and a related drawing (2023.20.1) of bustling city life reflect Jacob Lawrence’s keen powers of observation, great strength as a visual storyteller, and mastery of the high modernist devices of spatial flatness, gestural line, and all-over composition.

Jacob Lawrence found inspiration in the Harlem community where he was raised. His early work depicts scenes of Harlem life—people, rooms, facades, sidewalks, streets, and storefronts—in bold colors and shapes. The most ordinary tasks, events, and …

According to Peter Nesbett, co-author of the Jacob Lawrence catalogue raisonné, at the time this work was executed, Lawrence was living off Convent Avenue at the corner of West 144th Street and Hamilton Terrace in Harlem, New York. While the street corner depicted in Harlem Street Scene may be more imagined than a representation of a specific ...