The Opener from the series The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture
1997 · Screenprint
sheet: 22 1/4 × 32 1/8" (56.5 × 81.6 cm)
Museum of Modern Art
WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture
Jacob Lawrence
American, 1917
Atlantic City, NJ, USA
PaintingSocial RealismRenaissance
Representation
None documented
9
Institutional Exhibitions
62
Works in Collection
111
Assets Indexed
4
Authority-backed Facts
0
Publications Referenced
100%
Profile Completeness
Cultural Positioning
Movements
- • Social Realism
- • Renaissance
Influence Graph
No influence edges encoded yet.
Selected Institutional Exhibitions
View all exhibitions →No image
Committed to Print
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1988
No image
The Artist as Adversary
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1971
No image
America Seen: Between The Wars
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1961
No image
XXVth Anniversary Exhibition: Paintings from the Museum Collection
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1954–1955
No image
Recent Acquisitions
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1951
About
Why this artist matters now
Jacob Lawrence was an American painter renowned for his narrative murals and series works depicting African American history and urban life. Working primarily in gouache and tempera on paper, he developed a modernist style characterized by flattened forms, bold primary colors, and geometric fragmentation that conveyed emotional intensity without sentimentality. His migration series and works addressing the Great Depression, the Harlem Renaissance, and everyday Black experience became foundational to twentieth-century American art. Lawrence taught at several institutions and maintained a studio practice spanning seven decades.
Source: Sothebys · Trust score: 100% · Updated 1mo ago
Graph relationships
Taste overlap and adjacency
Movement
Social Realism
Medium
Painting
Related Artists
12 in graph
Institutional
Museum Collections
Canonical record
Artworks (62)
View all 62 artworks →
Record
Images
Related artists
Adjacent in the graph
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Exhibited alongside
Faith Ringgold
Exhibited alongside
Alma Thomas
Exhibited alongside
Rashid Johnson
Exhibited alongside
Joos van Cleve
Shared movement
Hans Hoffmann
Shared movement
Melchior Lorck
Shared movement
Andrea della Robbia
Shared movement
Giovanni Bellini
Shared movement
Reuben Kadish
Shared movement
Lisa Yuskavage
Also painting
Robert Ryman
Also painting
Record
Movements and affiliations
Institutional
Representation & Collections
In collection
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
In collection
Cleveland Museum of Art
In collection
Art Institute of Chicago
In collection
Museum of Modern Art
New York, US
In collection
Whitney Museum of American Art
In collection
Whitney Museum of American Art
In collection
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Market
Auction sale history
Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction
Network
Related Artists
Market
Auction History
Range: $3,780 – $4,470,000
| Work | Auction House | Date | Estimate | Hammer Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christie's | Apr 2026 | $70,000 – $100,000 | $69,850 | |
| Christie's | Feb 2026 | $6,000 – $8,000 | $4,826 | |
| Christie's | Nov 2025 | $700,000 – $1,000,000 | Unsold | |
| Christie's | Apr 2025 | $2,000,000 – $3,000,000 | Unsold | |
| Christie's | Jul 2024 | $5,000 – $7,000 | $10,080 | |
| Christie's | May 2024 | $2,000,000 – $3,000,000 | Unsold | |
| Christie's | Apr 2024 | $100,000 – $150,000 | $88,200 | |
| Christie's | Jul 2023 | $3,000 – $5,000 | $4,410 | |
| Christie's | Jul 2023 | $3,000 – $5,000 | $10,080 | |
| Christie's | Jul 2023 | $3,000 – $5,000 | $3,780 |
Showing 10 of 20 results
Record