Harvard Art Museums > M26664: The 1920s...The Migrants Cast Their Ballots Prints Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"The 1920s...The Migrants Cast Their Ballots (Jacob Lawrence) , M26664,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Apr 19, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/100440. This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number M26664 People Jacob Lawrence, American (Atlantic City, NJ 1917 - 2000 Seattle, WA) Title The 1920s...The Migrants Cast Their Ballots Other Titles Series/Book Title: Kent Bicentennial Portfolio: Spirit of Independence Classification Prints Work Type print Date 1974 Culture American Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/100440 Physical Descriptions Medium Screen print printed in seven colors on plus-white Domestic Etching paper Technique Screen print Dimensions 87.3 x 66 cm (34 3/8 x 26 in.) Inscriptions and Marks inscription: l.r in pencil: Jacob Lawrence 1974 inscription: l.l in pencil: 41/125 inscription: l.c in pencil: The 1920's...The Migrants cast their Ballots Provenance Recorded Ownership History Student Print Rental Program, transfer; to Print Department, October 25, 2005. State, Edition, Standard Reference Number Edition 41/125 Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Lorillard, Division of Loews Theatres, Inc., transfer from student print rental program Copyright © The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Accession Year 2005 Object Number M26664 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Commentary In the mid-1970s, Jacob Lawrence, an established artist in his 50s, began making screenprints of subjects he had explored in painting throughout his career. His work depicts the African-American experience, as is apparent in this screenprint of migrant workers casting their votes in an election from the 1920s. Much of his work demonstrates his commitment to African Americans achieving racial equality, and he is best know for series on figures such as Frederick Douglas and Harriet Tubman. In 1940-41, Lawrence executed a series of 60 paintings entitled "The Migration of the Negro," from which this print is thematically derived. After the first world war, millions of blacks left the south and moved to northern cities, where they experienced the freedom to vote for the first time. This screenprint is a complex layering of multiple colors and comes from the portfolio, the Kent Bicentennial Portfolio, commissioned by Lorillard, a division of Loews Theaters, Inc. Made in recognition of the American Bicentennial, artists contributing to the portfolio were asked to respond to the question, " what does independence mean to you?" Publication History Judy Murray and Ray Williams, Engaging New Americans, Preparing for US Citizenship with the Harvard Art Museums, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2012), ill. p. 66 Related Articles Voting Rights, from Emancipation to the Civil Rights Movement Katherine Mintie June 24, 2020 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
