Dreams

Week 3

Dreams No. 2

 Jacob Lawrence (1965)

90.8 by 61.0cm

Smithsonian American Art Museum

            This painting by Jacob Lawrence captured my attention because of all the color that was used. This particular painting Dreams, depicts what looks like a women sitting in a chair asleep dreaming. The artist uses mainly bright colors. He makes the women sitting in the chair stand out against the rest of the room. He paints what looks like two windows. In one of the windows it looks like there is a scene of some kind happening either outside of the room or in the women’s dream. He paints this particular woman very dark as if to make her look of black ethnicity.

            The social issue I chose was family. I think that this painting shows a women laying in a chair tired from providing for her family.  Family is very important to have this women was probably providing meals and material things for her families happiness. She was helping out her family like most families do. They help out one another. I think the purpose of the particular piece of art is to show the visual elements of an everyday situation of someone living their life then dreaming of another through sleep.

            I think that this painting relates to my social issue of family very well. This artist did a nice job of using color and visual elements to describe what was happening in the painting. This quote from the bulletin of the museum of modern art, “Lawrence paints facts, not propaganda”. I thought that this quote describes well of why he paints certain scenes. He paints life.