Kunsthal KAdE in Amersfoort, Netherlands, is hosting 'Jacob Lawrence: African American Modernist,' the first European retrospective of the American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000). The exhibition spans his six-decade career from the 1930s, featuring 70 paintings, 25 drawings, and 75 prints, along with photographs and archival materials. It includes works from his celebrated series on the Great Migration, Builders, World War II, and historical figures like Harriet Tubman and Toussaint L'Ouverture, as well as new works by contemporary artists Barbara Earl Thomas and Nina Chanel Abney inspired by Lawrence.
This retrospective matters because it offers European audiences a rare, comprehensive view of Lawrence's meticulous visual storytelling of Black American life and history. As one of the most important 20th-century American artists, Lawrence's work combines social documentation with a rigorous approach to form and color. The exhibition brings together loans from major institutions like The Phillips Collection, Smithsonian, and Harvard Art Museums, underscoring his enduring influence and the growing international recognition of his contributions to modern art.