TOLEDO, OHIO.- Toledo, Ohio— The Toledo Museum of Art opens the exhibition Jacob Lawrence Prints: A Comprehensive Survey, 1963–2000 on January 26, 2007. The exhibition consists of more than 80 works of art that tell visual stories drawn from Lawrence’s interest in African and African American history and heritage. Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000) is recognized as one of the art world’s most gifted storytelling artists. Lawrence’s art reveals a distinctive, personal style of bold colors and overlapping shapes influenced by modern art and jazz. Much of Lawrence’s work looks at life in Harlem, celebrating its people, music, and buildings. He also chronicled historic events like the life of Harriet Tubman and the Great Migratio n of African Americans from the South to the cities of the North. Lawrence was quoted as saying: I am dealing with struggle throughout my [work]. Sometimes that struggle is apparent, sometimes it is not apparent. I think struggle is a beautiful thing. I think it is what made our country what it is, starting with the Revolution. The people in general have always gone through this. Of course black people have continued this struggle also. I would like to think of this symbol [of struggle in my work] as being not just a black symbol, but a symbol of our—man’s—capacity to endure and to triumph.

Lawrence often described his work as a continuation, constantly growing and building on itself; many of his prints rework themes and compositions from his paintings. From his first published lithograph in 1963 until the end of his life in 2000, Lawrence produced a dynamic body of prints exploring universal issues of equality, unity, and hope.