The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2024

Creative Therapy

Creative Therapy

1949
(American, 1917–2000)
Sheet: 56 x 76.4 cm (22 1/16 x 30 1/16 in.)
© The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Catalogue raisonné: Nesbett and DuBois P49-06
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Jacob Lawrence included a self portrait in this work, at left, showing himself so closely focused on his canvas that it obscures his face.

Description

Jacob Lawrence established an important and successful career early on, working with a prestigious New York gallery and becoming the first African American artist to be represented in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. He encountered anxiety and self-doubt, however, leading him to undertake a voluntary stay at Hillside Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Queens from 1949 through 1950. While there, he produced a series of drawings, to which this sheet belongs, depicting his experiences. In the present work, patients paint together, guided by a physician who saw art as a means of therapy. Lawrence experimented with geometric forms, flattened planes, and slanting recession of space to shift the image's perspective and place the viewer within the scene.
  • 1950
    (Downtown Gallery, New York, NY, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Zlowe, New York NY)
    1950-?
    Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Zlowe, New York, NY
    ?-?
    (Terry Dintenfass, Inc., New York, NY)
    ?-?
    Andrew and Ann Dintenfass, Pacific Palisades, CA
    ?-1994
    (Terry Dintenfass, Inc. New York, NY, sold to Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1994-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Jacob Lawrence: Exhibition of New Paintings in Casein. Exh. Cat. New York: The Downtown Gallery, 1950. Mentioned: no. 4
    Pearson, Ralph M. The Modern Renaissance in American Art: Presenting the Work and Philosophy of Fifty-Four Distinguished Artists. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1954. Mentioned: p. 167
    Litt, Steven. "Art Museum Obtains Jacob Lawrence Work." Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 3, 1994, 7-E. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 7-E
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “The Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Important Work by American Painter Jacob Lawrence,” February 28, 1994, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: pp. 268-269, 298; Reproduced: p. 269
    Nesbett, Peter T. and Michelle DuBois. Jacob Lawrence: Paintings, Drawings, and Murals (1935-1999), A Catalogue Raisonné. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000. Mentioned and reproduced: vol. 2, p. 113, no. P49-06
    Nesbett, Peter T. and Michelle DuBois, eds. Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence. Exh. Cat. Washington, D.C.: Phillips Collection, 2001. Mentioned: p. 129; reproduced: p. 130
    Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. Mentioned: p. 121; Reproduced: p. 27, no 87
    Donley, Gregory M., "Geometric Means", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 46 no. 05, May/June 2006 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 4 archive.org
    Cole, Mark. African American Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Mentioned: p. 18; Reproduced: p. 4
    Lee, Key Jo, and William Griswold. Perceptual Drift: Black Art and an Ethics of Looking. Cleveland, OH : Cleveland Museum of Art, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 27, fig. 11
  • Our Stories: African American Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 24-May 18, 2014).
    The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
    Over the Line: the Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 6, 2002-January 5, 2003).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    American Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-July 12, 1998).
    Jacob Lawrence: Exhibition of New Paintings in Casein. The Downtown Gallery, New York, NY (October 24 - November 11, 1950).
  • {{cite web|title=Creative Therapy|url=false|author=Jacob Lawrence|year=1949|access-date=22 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1994.2