The Great Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence

The Great Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence

The story about the African-Americans great migration is familiar to most readers as it is a true story that occurred immediately after the first world war. The story involved a great relocation of more than six million African-Americans from their rural homes to various urban cities in the North, West and Midwest in the United States of America. Driven from their rural homes by poor economic conditions, discrimination and racial segregation, the Negroes decided to move from the Southern States to different urban cities in the North. However, their great movement to the North also contributed to the name, Great Northward instead of Great Migration. Various cities that most Negroes occupied after their move from southern states are St. Louis, New York, Chicago and Detroit among other cities. The story of the great migration is documented in various research papers and books. Many authors have also talked about the story of the great migration in their works.

Jacob Lawrence told the most famous work about the story of African-Americans great migration. Jacob Lawrence has the story covered in pictorial series, which makes it applicable to diverse readers. Jacob Lawrence, who was a well known African-American, chronicled the journey of the African-Americans in sixty panels and branded it, Migration Series (Lawrence and Bunch, 1993). The book, the Great Migration, is a flowing narrative and a sequence of paintings that features landmark paintings and poetic texts to explore the experience endured by Negroes during their mass movement. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to analyze one of the paintings featured in the Great Migration Series by Lawrence. Various elements including how the painting complements the poetic text, the impact of the art, the context, the mood, and the technique about the art will be addressed in this paper.

The painting chosen for this analysis is the first picture, which portrays the immigrants walking towards doors marked as Chicago, New York and St. Louis.

How the Painting Illustrates/Compliments the Text that Accompanies It

The text that accompanies the painting is about the migration of African-Americans from their Southern homes to cities in the North. That is, in the text, Lawrence states how African-Americans including his parents moved from their homes to Northern towns around the time he was born, and this was known as a great migration (Breen, 2015). However, the painting under analysis clearing illustrates what Lawrence has in the text as the picture shows a vast number of people moving towards Chicago, St. Louis and New York. Besides, the people walking towards these doors are all black, as illustrated in the picture.

Impacts of the Painting and Its Connection to the Text

The painting has a significant impact on its viewers as it translates the experiences African-Americans had during the First World War. Besides, the picture significantly connects to the text as the poetic text talks about the mass movement of the African-Americans to the northern cities in search of a better life.

The Part of Migration the Painting Tells

The painting tells the story about the first part of African-Americans migration, and that is the Negroes migration into the northern cities in 1917. That is, during World War I, African-Americans decided to move to urban cities in the North including Chicago, St. Louis and New York in large numbers. The painting, however, portrays a good number of people moving towards doors marked as St. Louis Chicago and New York.

How the Painting Fits in with Other Paintings in the Series

The painting about the exit of African-Americans to Northern cities fits well with other painting in the series as it dictates the whole story. That is, other paintings in the story talk about the experiences the African-Americans faced in the Northern cities after their migration from the South (Crew, 1987). However, this painting portrays the African-Americans moving to the northern cities in masses.

The Painting’s Stand Out

The painting stands out as it depicts the mass movement of African-Americans from their rural homes in the South to the Northern cities. Moreover, the painting greatly pictures how a larger group of African-Americans moved in different cities, including St. Louis, Chicago and New York, to search for better lives.

The Mood Conveyed by the Painting

The painting conveys the experience the Negroes had during World War. Besides, the painting conveys the migration mood experienced by African-Americans. A good number of African-Americans moved to the Northern Cities, and this is evident as a lot of congestion can be seen in the picture.

Qualities Shared by All the Paintings

The primary quality shared by Lawrence’s paintings is their illustrate nature. That is, the pictures are illustrative as they analyze the experiences of African-Americans before and after the great migration. Additionally, the pictures share universal themes

The Techniques Used by Lawrence to Convey the Mood

To convey the mood, which is barely about migration of the African Americans, Lawrence used poetic texts and a series format to convey the narrative content. Besides, his words and images conveyed the metaphor of change and hope in African-Americans during the World War.

How Color, Symbol and Pictorial References are Used

In the development of the painting, Lawrence used brown and black colors juxtaposed with vivid colors to bring forth the African-American experiences. The black color was mainly used to symbolize blacks. Furthermore, the images are painted on a cardboard and used as pictorial references.

Why the Cycle of Painting was Named “An American Story”

The cycle of the painting is known as the American Story as it took place in America. Furthermore, the great movement involved the African-Americans movement from the Sothern America to urban cities in North America.

Overall, Jacob Lawrence story about the African-American migration in pictorial form is still outstanding as it offers simple analysis of the Negroes experience during world war.