# Jacob Lawrence artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/jacob-lawrence/
Profile generated: 2026-05-02T01:42:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1917-09-17
- Death date: 2000-06-09
- Nationality: American
- Movements: Harlem Renaissance, Dynamic Cubism, Social Realism
- Common media: Gouache, Tempera, Oil on canvas, Screen prints

## About Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Armstead Lawrence (1917–2000) was an American painter celebrated for his vivid narrative depictions of African-American history and everyday life. Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and raised in Harlem from the age of thirteen, Lawrence was shaped by the cultural energy of the Harlem Renaissance and by his parents' experience of the Great Migration—the mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to northern cities. He called his own style "dynamic cubism," blending bold, angular composition with the patterns and rhythms of West African and Meso-American art. Working primarily in gouache and tempera on paper, Lawrence produced landmark series devoted to figures such as Toussaint L'Ouverture, Harriet Tubman, and Frederick Douglass, as well as his renowned sixty-panel Migration Series. His palette of strong blacks and browns set against bright color captured both struggle and vitality. Lawrence later became a professor at the University of Washington, teaching there for sixteen years.

## Common works and media

Lawrence's most frequently encountered works at auction and in collections include gouache and tempera paintings on paper, often depicting scenes of Harlem life, builders, families, and historical narratives. He produced oil paintings on canvas throughout his career, including larger studio compositions. His screen prints—especially those published later in his career—are widely held by collectors and appear regularly in the prints-and-multiples market. Drawing in pencil, ink, and charcoal also appears among his documented output. Common subjects include interior domestic scenes, labor and construction workers, street life, and episodes from African-American and American history.

## Market and appraisal context

Jacob Lawrence's auction market is deep and active, with 1,017 recorded lots and 726 priced results spanning from May 1999 to April 2026. The market shows strong liquidity: 111 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month period, stable against 108 in the prior 12 months. Price dispersion is wide—realized prices range from $10 for smaller prints to $4,470,000 for major paintings—reflecting the broad spectrum of media and significance across his output. The median price sits at $3,000, with an interquartile range of $900–$6,000, indicating that mid-tier works on paper and prints form the bulk of trade activity. Confirmed recent Lawrence lots include screen prints (e.g., 'Hiroshima' signed screenprint, $200), gouache works (e.g., 'Brotherhood for Peace,' $1,800; 'Toussaint at Ennery,' $2,900), and paintings (e.g., 'The Builders (The Family),' 1974, $4,250; 'The Library' at Bonhams, $4,500). The market is anchored by specialist and major houses alike: Swann Auction Galleries, Black Art Auction, Christie's, Bonhams, and Freeman's | Hindman are among the most active venues.

## Auction-house-backed market evidence

Jacob Lawrence's auction market is deep and active, with 1,017 recorded lots and 726 priced results spanning from May 1999 to April 2026. The market shows strong liquidity: 111 lots appeared in the most recent 12-month period, stable against 108 in the prior 12 months. Price dispersion is wide—realized prices range from $10 for smaller prints to $4,470,000 for major paintings—reflecting the broad spectrum of media and significance across his output. The median price sits at $3,000, with an interquartile range of $900–$6,000, indicating that mid-tier works on paper and prints form the bulk of trade activity. Confirmed recent Lawrence lots include screen prints (e.g., 'Hiroshima' signed screenprint, $200), gouache works (e.g., 'Brotherhood for Peace,' $1,800; 'Toussaint at Ennery,' $2,900), and paintings (e.g., 'The Builders (The Family),' 1974, $4,250; 'The Library' at Bonhams, $4,500). The market is anchored by specialist and major houses alike: Swann Auction Galleries, Black Art Auction, Christie's, Bonhams, and Freeman's | Hindman are among the most active venues.

### Appraisal notes

Appraisily would use these auction records as a comparable-sales baseline, layered with examination of the work's medium, dimensions, signature, condition, provenance, edition details (for prints), and exhibition or publication history. For Jacob Lawrence, key variables include whether a work belongs to a documented narrative series (Migration, Toussaint L'Ouverture, Harriet Tubman, Builders, Hiroshima), the specific medium (original gouache or tempera on paper commands a premium over screen prints), edition size and numbering for prints, and condition—especially for works on paper, which are vulnerable to light fading and foxing. Attribution must be verified against the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné. The wide price range ($10–$4,470,000) means that even small differences in medium, period, series association, or condition can materially affect appraised value.

### Valuation factors

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### Collector notes



### Market caveats

- The recent-lot sample includes results for artists named 'Jacob' who are not Jacob Lawrence (e.g., Jacob Epstein, Julius Jacob, Emanuel Jacob, Jacob de Gheyn II); only lots explicitly attributed to 'Jacob Lawrence, 1917–2000' should be used as comparables.
- The $4,470,000 maximum price represents an outlier; the vast majority of trade occurs below $6,000 and the median is $3,000. Appraisals should not anchor to the top of the range without a comparable work.
- Lawrence's most important paintings are held in permanent museum collections (MoMA, Phillips Collection, Whitney, Met) and rarely appear at auction; the auction record skews toward prints and works on paper.
- Attribution should be confirmed through the Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Catalogue Raisonné project; unverified works should not be treated as authenticated.
- Auction prices reflect hammer prices plus buyer's premium; net proceeds to the seller are typically 10–20% lower after house commissions.

### Market evidence sources

- undefined: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/jacob-lawrence/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0
- undefined: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot-jacob-lawrence-1917-2000-brotherhood-for-peace-12-c-99749ea998

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine researched artist identity data from museum, library-authority, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Jacob Lawrence, this page draws on sources including the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress, VIAF, the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History), and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n83125290
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/3418
- RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/48437
- VIAF (Virtual International Authority File): https://viaf.org/viaf/42644829/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q355566
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Lawrence