Stewardsmate Jacob Lawrence

Stewardsmate Jacob Lawrence was born on September 7th, 1917. He was the first African American combat artist in USCG and Navy history. Throughout his time on the U.S.S. Sea Cloud, the very first fully integrated Coast Guard ship, he completed seventeen paintings. These paintings depicted black and white sailors working side by side on the vessel during World War 2, something no artist had shown in their work before. Eight of Jacob Lawrence’s wartime paintings were then shown in the MOMA, in 1944. Since then, all but one of his wartime paintings have been lost.

Lawrence’s importance as an artist went beyond his service in the military. He was a critically acclaimed and well accomplished painter; known for his depictions of black life in America, modernist art, and unique style of dynamic cubism. He created art throughout the late Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Movement, and well after. Jacob Lawrence's work has been displayed in the MOMA, the Met, and even the White House.

I chose Jacob Lawrence not only because of his success and many accomplishments, but because I also have an interest in art. He stood out to me because of how creative and unique his art style was, and how it translated into wartime art. I also chose Jacob Lawrence because my Freshman year art teacher, Mrs. Primosch, was a combat artist for the U.S. Navy. Throughout Freshman year I looked up to Primosch, and would ask her questions about her life and her time in the Navy. She would tell me stories of her time as a combat artist, and it stuck with me.

Rita Lopez Villamil - Sophomore February, 2023