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Harriet Tubman Analysis

Decent Essays

Description

Jacob Lawrence's Harriet Tubman series number 10 is aesthetically beautiful. The light blue and dark blue of the sky is different because the stars are illuminating one section of the sky. The artwork is not sophisticated, it's difficult to ascertain if that is a waterfall or a river in the picture but there are more rivers in the south then there are waterfalls so you can assume that this is a river. She appears to be reaching for the stars with her left hand while dragging the chains of oppression with her right hand. This portrait has the highest aesthetic value, the portrait not only elicits joy it teaches you about determination, heroism, American history, and the history of black people in America.

Subject matter

The subject …show more content…

In the 1930's, buildings were painted with Casein, and during World War II it was used for camouflage. Ready-to-use Casein wall paints were popular during the 1940's and 50's. No other media has been so versatile for so long.

Form

The colors in this painting are mostly dark because the perilous trek to the northern states was done at night. The darkest element in the painting is Harriet Tubman. The depiction of Harriet Tubman is that of a dark and mysterious superhero. Jacob Lawrence doesn't sugarcoat the blackness in his artwork so he made sure to make Harriet Tubman unmistakably black. The lines in the art seem to be shading for all the dark spots in the painting. The dark horizontal lines on Harriet Tubman's white shirt is a great sign of her blending into the darkness.

Context

Jacob Lawrence's Harriet Tubman series number 10 was created during the last year's of the great depression. Everyone was suffering during the great depression but black people were literally starving to death and living in communities that were made of nothing but cardboard boxes. This portrait was a reminder to every black person that seen this portrait that they can persevere even in the worst

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