New York in Transit I

Details

JACOB LAWRENCE (1917-2000)
New York in Transit I
signed and dated 'Jacob Lawrence 1996' (lower right)—inscribed with various notations (in the margins)
gouache and pencil on paper
image, 13 x 42 in. (33 x 106.7 cm.);
overall, 26 1⁄4 x 47 1⁄2 in. (66.7 x 120.7 cm.)
Executed in 1996.

Provenance

Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence, Seattle, Washington.
Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Trust, bequest from the above.
Christie's, New York, 21 February-4 March 2014, lot 3.
Private collection, Lambertville, New Jersey, acquired from the above.
Private collection, Palm Beach, acquired from the above.
Surovek Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, 2019.

Literature

P.T. Nesbett, M. DuBois, Jacob Lawrence: Paintings, Drawings, and Murals (1935-1999), A Catalogue Raisonné, Seattle, Washington, 2000, p. 210, no. P96-01, illustrated.

Exhibited

Seattle, Washington, Francine Seders Gallery, Jacob Lawrence as Muralist, July 2-August 2, 1998.
New York, DC Moore Gallery, Jacob Lawrence: Mural Studies, February 8-March 11, 2006.
New York, DC Moore Gallery, Jacob Lawrence: Moving Forward, Paintings 1936-1999, February 13-March 22, 2008, pp. 71-72, 78, illustrated.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Tylee Abbott Vice President, Head of American Art

tabbott@christies.com +1 212 707 5925

Lot Essay

The present work is the first of two maquettes for a mural Jacob Lawrence designed for the Times Square subway station in New York City, which was his last public work. The mural was commissioned in 1991 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Arts & Design Department. The final design was installed as a 36 feet wide glass mosaic by Miotto Mosaics Art Studios in 2001, where it still hangs on the mezzannine level near the Shuttle train. Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence worked closely on the mural installation after the artist's passing.

“We tend to deprecate art. We don’t appreciate art. Jazz musicians starve to death…Same for our painters…Part of our work is to honor these so deserving people. And Jacob, he deserves our highest regard. He’s up there in the pantheon of the greats of American art and culture.” (Rev. Jesse Jackson, in an interview with Christie’s, February 2014)

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