Migration Series

[4] The series is based on the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural south to the urban north that began in the 1910s.

The panels depict the dire state of black life in the South, with poor wages, economic hardship due to the boll weevil, and a justice system rigged against them.

The North offered better wages and slightly more rights, although was not without its problems; living conditions were much more crowded in the cities, which led to new threats such as tuberculosis outbreaks.

The works consist of casein tempera paint applied to hardboard panels, atop a traditional gesso layer of rabbit-skin glue and whiting.

Lawrence made his own casein tempera, purchasing the dry pigments from Fedanzie Sperrle and using them unmixed so that the colors would not vary between panels.