Brianna D. Mears
September 5, 2016
Arts 1100: Art Appreciation
Gale DuBose
Fall Semester 2016
Description:
The Silk Screen print, “Carpenters”, created by artist Jacob Lawrence was printed in
1977. It is a two- dimensional painting. The manner of the paint used in this piece was applied very
thick as to show intensity. This print measures 18 x 22 inches, and shaped in a horizontal format. This
offset lithograph print portrays three African American men working and building together in a tight,
small building. Jacob Lawrence, an African American himself, moved to the North from the rural
South and settled in Harlem seeking a better life at the young age of 13. Lawrence was primarily
concerned with the narration of African-American experiences and histories. His observations of
community life, work, struggle and emancipation were rendered within vividly imagined chronicles
of the past. The past and present in his practice were intrinsically linked, providing insight into the
social, economic and political realities that continue to impact and shape contemporary society today.
Lawrence’s experience of living during this time greatly impacted his artwork.
This print depicts an image of African American men laboring. In the foreground of this
print in the lower left and middle side, an African man with strong, big arms and hands hangs his head
over a cluttered table filled with tools various tools and a large piece of wood. He wears a bright red,
short sleeved shirt overlapped and paired with plain, blue overalls. There seems to be no detailed
characteristics of this man’s face however, his hands, towards the bottom left of this painting, have
muscular definition. Being in the foreground, he is depicted as the largest of the three men and has the
most detail thus creating a central focus. To the far left, in the middle ground, there is another male
African American. This male, less masculine as the male in the foreground, is wearing a light blue
jumpsuit with short sleeves that fall in the middle of his masculine arms. He is fuller than the other
men . This African male is using a long handled tool, with a bright red handle, to screw an object into
a piece of long piece of plywood. This job that is depicted here with this man shows a less intensity
and requires less manual and physical labor than the next male behind him. The next African
American Male in the background of this print to the slight left behind the male in middle is dressed in
what looks to be a light blue jumpsuit as that of the male in the middle. His jumpsuit has cut sleeves
that show his entire arm from his shoulder to the hands. Unlike the other two men, he is wearing black
shoes. Also unlike the other two men, he is inserting farm more manual and physical labor into his job
of the construction. This is shown by how his left leg is forcefully pressed unto the large piece of
wood, and how strongly he hold onto the large saw used to cut the wood. This work of art shows deep
