Jacob Lawrence’s Work Theme, 1945–46

York from service in the Coast Guard during World War II, Jacob Lawrence began work on The Shoemaker, a watercolor and gouache painting of a Black craftsperson in his workshop (fig. 1). Surrounded by the products of his labor—the strappy heels and sleek leather loafers that are heaped and hung around him—the shoemaker is poised to create still more, his massive hands wielding tools that will slice through a waiting piece of yellow leather. Rendered in the bold, unmodulated tones of vermilion red, cadmium yellow, bluegreen viridian, cobalt blue, deep black, and earthy ocher associated with the artist’s earlier historical cycles, the painting seemed to signal Lawrence’s return, his own eagerness to get down to work. Jacob Lawrence’s Work Theme, 1945–46