Object number2008.4

Memorabilia

Date1990

Artist Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917-2000)

printed by Kent Lovelace (American, born 1953)

Printer Stone Press Editions (Seattle, 1979 - 2005)

Publisher University of Washington Press (Seattle)

CultureAmerican

MediumLithograph on Rives BFK paper; from hand color-separated photo aluminum plates

EditionHors d'Commerce, from an edition of 100, plus 10 artist's proofs and 5 Hors d'Commerce

DimensionsImage: 31 3/8 x 22 11/16 in. (79.7 x 57.7 cm)
Framed: 36 5/8 x 27 5/8 x 1 1/2 in. (93 x 70.2 x 3.8 cm)

Credit LineCommissioned by Vassar College in 1989

On View

On view

Period20th c

Classification(s)

SignedOn recto, signed lower right within image: Jacob Lawrence

InscribedOn recto, by artist, lower center within image in pencil: Memorabilia; lower left: H/C

MarkingsOn recto, blindstamp of a handprint [Stone Press' chop mark] lower right corner within image

Catalogue raisonnéNesbett L90-3BibliographyNesbett, Peter T., Jacob Lawrence, and Patricia. Hills. Jacob Lawrence : The Complete Prints (1963-2000) : A Catalogue Raisonné [2nd ed.]. Seattle: Francine Seders Gallery, in association with University of Washington Press, 2001; Nogrady, Elizabeth. Raz, Alyx. Making and Meaning. The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Poughkeepsie, NY: Vassar College, 2023, p. 2 ProvenanceCommissioned by Vassar College, 1989

Vassar Exhibitions

Recent Acquisitions: Works on Paper

Spotlight: Collection Highlights

Drawn Together: The Visual Language of Drawing

Reflections: Portrayals of and by African Americans

Exhibition HistoryRecent Acquisitions: Works on Paper, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, January 18 - March 30, 2013;

Reflections: Portrayals of and by African Americans, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, April 10 - August 19, 2018;

Africana Studies, 1969-2019: A History of Imagining Otherwise, Vassar College Libraries, Special Collections, Poughkeepsie, NY, September 12 - December 13, 2019

Label TextThis work was originally commissioned in 1989 by Vassar College as a poster for the twentieth anniversary of its Africana Studies Program. The lithograph was published by University of Washington Press to establish the Jacob Lawrence Endowment. The fund is being used to support a new series of publications entitled the "Jacob Lawrence Series on American Artists". For the twentieth anniversary of Vassar College's Program in Africana Studies, Lawrence chose to depict the storeroom of a conservatory replete with images of an African American heritage. Visible are examples of African carving, a Nigerian adire cloth, and a jazz trio. Historical events, alluding in part to Lawrence's own previous work, are also represented. On the top shelf, Harriet Tubman brandishes a rifle, while on the table several troops allude to such revolutionary armies as those of Toussaint L'Ouverture and John Brown or to the battles of the Civil War. -Nesbett excerpt

DescriptionDepiction of an interior with people holding various objects. In the background are shelves, upon which are placed figures and symbols of African American history, as well as on the tables and in the figures' hands.

Terms

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu