Art Bytes: Jacob Lawrence - John Brown Series

Each week, Art Bytes takes an expert deep dive into important artwork from the Detroit Institute of Arts' collection. In this episode, Gallery Teacher Willie Moultrie teaches us how to look at the artist Jacob Lawrence's paintings, titled The John Brown Series. Moultrie teaches us why Lawrence was inspired to create the 22 paintings in the series, which depict the life and death of John Brown, an abolitionist who fought to the death to overthrow slavery during the Civil War. He also talks about how Lawrence's series is one of the first by an African American artist to create a new narrative around historical events that is pertinent to the African American experience, and the materials Lawrence used to make the paintings.