A Celebration of Great African-American Artists of the 20th Century
Gwen Knight-Lawrence
Born in Barbados, West Indies, Gwen Knight-Lawrence came to the United States as a young girl. She attended Howard University, the New School for Social Research, and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. She met fellow artist Jacob Lawrence during the heyday of the postwar phase of the Harlem cultural renaissance. After marrying Lawrence, she joined him in the Spiral Group of African-American artists working in New York City.
Affiliation: Howard University, New School for Social Research
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Lullaby, 1992 In Gwen Knight-Lawrence's Lullaby, a black woman cradles her baby against her body. The artist's handling of this classic theme of mother and child transcends the African-American context to address universal human sentiments. Knight-Lawrence excluded extraneous visual details that might root the scene in a specific time and place, choosing to depict only generalized furnishings and clothing. Her stylistic influences here include both the work of Matisse and African woodcarvings. |
Romare Bearden
Selma Burke
Elizabeth Catlett
Alex Corbbrey
Sam Gilliam
Lois Mailou Jones
Paul F. Keene, Jr.
Jacob Lawrence
Samella Lewis
Charles White
Hale Woodruff