Jacob Lawrence: Toussaint L'Ouverture Series

Jacob Lawrence (1917?2000) was one of the most influential and compelling painters of the twentieth century whose work focused on the struggles of historical and contemporary black culture. When twenty years old, Lawrence began a series of 41 paintings on the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the revolutionary who led the founding in 1791 of Haiti as the first republic established by former slaves. The Haitian Revolution has been an important symbol of the fight against slavery and the struggle for emancipation and civil rights in the United States and around the world. The Toussaint L'Ouverture series (1937-38) is on loan from The Amistad Research Center, Tulane University and is an important focus for the University of Illinois' celebration of the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation (1862). Exhibition courtesy of the Armistad Research Center, New Orleans, Louisiana and sponsored in part the Office of the Chancellor; Office of the Provost; Office of Equal Opportunity and Access; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; and Krannert Art Museum