Art

The Epic in the Ordinary

The painting of Jacob Lawrence

Margaret O'Brien Steinfels

The artist Jacob Lawrence died in Seattle on June 9. Reading his obituary in the New York Times, I looked up at the poster over my desk announcing a 1992 exhibit of his work at the Phillips Collection in Washington. It shows a painting with the number fifty-seven scrawled in the lower right corner. 57 depicts a black woman, head bent, laboring over a large washing trough push (...)


 

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