Activity #05 Themes or Functions

Jacob Lawrence, Daybreak - A Time to Rest is one in a series of works that tell the story of Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman was a slave who formed the Underground Railroad, an escape path for African American slaves to escape from the captivity of slavery in the South to free states in the North and Canada. Although, this art work is about a time of struggle and sadness in the history of African Americans in the United States, Lawrence use of intense primary and secondary colors removes the sadness from the art work and provides a optimism. Without the background information on this piece of art work, it is difficult for the viewer of this piece to decipher the content. The intense color and the peacefulness of the human body lying asleep on the beach have no connection to the darkness of slavery.

I found that all of Lawrence works focus on African American life. Common to Lawrence works are faceless characters and the use of intense primary and secondary colors. This can be seen in Lawrence’s Barber Shop, 1946; Library, 1969 as well as Daybreak, 1967. Also common to Lawrence work is the use of geometric shapes. In the painting Barber Shop, the triangle is a dominant, as illustrated by the capes of the customer. In the Library the use of square and rectangular shapes overwhelms. In Daybreak, Lawrence uses the two parallel lines receding into the distance, the vanishing point creates an implied triangle.

Jacob Lawrence, Barber Shop


Jacob Lawrence, Library


In Perilous Nights, Jasper Johns brings human experience and fantasy to his art work. Johns art pieces for the most part are abstract pieces. John utilizes geometric and organic shapes in his art work. Unlike Lawrence, John palette selections vary from portrait to portrait. John does not use a high saturation of color. In Perilous Nights, John has tertiary colors as he does in the works, 0 through 9. The Ventriloquist-Mona, John’s inserts a splash green to bring focus to a painting within the painting. In John’s work 0 through 9, the primary colors of blue, red, and yellow are employed, however there is a dullness to the hues. Because of the fantasy to Johns’ work the content is somewhat difficult to decipher. In Perilous Nights and the Ventriloquist, a viewer can interpret two subjects. For example in Perilous Night the vertical line that splits the painting into a right and left panel, two interpretations can be achieved. In Ventriloquist, the insertion of the painting of the green flags gives an illusion of a portrait within a portrait.

Jasper Johns, Ventriloquist-MOMA


Jasper Johns, 0 through 9