JACOB LAWRENCE (1917 - 2000) The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture series.
Collection of 15 color screenprints on both Bainbridge and Rising Two Ply Rag paper, 1986-1997. Each approximately 724x470 mm; 28 1/2x18 1/2 inches, full margins. Each signed, titled, dated and numbered 73/ (from the various editions, which range from 99 to 125) in pencil, lower margin. Each printed by Lou Stovall, Workshop, Inc., Washington, DC, with the blind stamp lower left. Each published by the Amistad Research Center, New Orleans. Each a superb impression with strong and bright colors.
Includes The Birth of Toussaint L'Ouverture, 1986 * General Toussaint L'Ouverture, 1986 * The Capture, 1987 * To Preserve Their Freedom, 1988 * Toussaint at Ennery, 1989 * The Coachman, 1990 * Dondon, 1992 * Contemplation, 1993 * St. Marc, 1994 * Strategy, 1994 * The March, 1995 * Flotilla, 1996 * Deception, 1997 * The Burning, 1997 * The Opener, 1997.
Provenance: Collection of Health Legacy of Cleveland, Inc. Funds raised from its sale will go towards scholarships for African-American students from the Cleveland area to attend medical and dental school.
Between 1986 and 1997 Lawrence executed 15 screenprints based on 41 paintings made in 1937-38 to recount the life of Toussaint L'Ouverture. Born a slave, Toussaint emerged as a leader of the Haitian slave rebellion (1791-1804) that freed his country from nearly 300 years of European rule. In 1492 Columbus had claimed the West Indian island of Hispaniola or Little Spain, which the native population called Haiti, Land of Mountains. By the late 1600s, the island was divided between the Spanish and the French, who named their portions Santo Domingo and Saint-Domingue, respectively. Five hundred thousand captured Africans, working as slaves on plantations growing sugar, coffee, and cotton, were treated brutally. The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture series focuses on the Haitian leader's valiant efforts to defeat the European forces and achieve independence for his people. A declaration of independence was published on January 1, 1804, establishing Haiti as the first black republic in the West.
Exhibited: Jacob's Toussaint, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, December 12, 1999 - February 27, 2000, with the museum labels on the frame backs, and the Carl Van Vecthen Gallery, Fisk University, Nashville, TN, September 30, 2002 - January 31, 2004. Nesbett L86-1 - L97-5.
