Lawrence is renowned for his visual interpretations of Black life and history, which he often explored in series. This painting evokes a scene along Lenox Avenue, a central street in Harlem known at the time for its many pool parlors. The composition reveals a dimly lit room filled with dark-green pool tables punctuated with brightly colored billiard balls. Men focus intently on their competitive and communal recreation, while a few spectators look on. Zigzags of cigarette smoke and pool cues further animate the image.
Pool Parlor is the first work by Lawrence that entered The Met collection. The Museum purchased the painting as a prizewinner in its "Artists for Victory" competition in 1942, a celebratory exhibition of contemporary American art during World War II. This acquisition was a rare recognition of the talent of an artist of color by the Museum at the time. Lawrence’s artistic star had risen the previous year, when the painter, then only twenty-three years old, debuted his ambitious sixty-panel Migration Series (1940–41; Museum of Modern Art, New York and Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.), which dramatized the mass internal migrations of African Americans moving out of the segregated and rural South to Northern and Midwestern cities to find jobs, better housing, and freedom from oppression.
Inscription: Signed and dated (lower right): J. Lawrence 42
the artist, New York (sold in 1942 through Downtown Gallery, New York to MMA)
Washington, D.C. Phillips Memorial Gallery. "Three Negro Artists: Horace Pippin (1888–1946), Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthe," December 14, 1946–January 6, 1947, no. 33.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art," December 7, 1942–February 22, 1943, unnumbered cat. (p. 17; awarded a Sixth Prize).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," March 8–May 10, 1943, no catalogue.
Boston. Institute of Modern Art. "Artists for Victory: Prize Winners," May 22–June 19, 1943, no catalogue.
Albany Institute of History and Art. "The Negro Artist Comes of Age: A National Survey of Contemporary American Artists," January 3–February 11, 1945, no. 42.
Boston. Institute of Modern Art. "Four Modern American Painters: Peter Blume, Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Jacob Lawrence," March 2–April 1, 1945, no. 43 (as "The Pool Parlor").
New York. Downtown Gallery. "Loan Exhibition: A Selection of Outstanding Paintings and Sculptures by Leading Exponents of Progressive American Art and a Group of 19th Century Art," October 15–November 3, 1945, no. 9.
Cambridge, Mass. Fogg Art Museum. "Contemporary Art," April 12–June 7, 1951, no catalogue.
Washington, D.C. Workshop Center of the Arts. "The City," September 21–October 12, 1951, no catalogue.
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Vassar College. "The City," October 22–November 12, 1951, no catalogue.
Kansas City, Mo. Kansas City Art Institute. "The City," November 26–December 17, 1951, no catalogue.
Northfield, Minn. Carleton College. "The City," January 8–29, 1952, no catalogue.
Williamstown, Mass. Lawrence Art Museum, Williams College. "The City," February 14–March 6, 1952, no catalogue.
Manchester, N.H. Currier Gallery of Art. "The City," March 20–April 10, 1952, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
New York. Whitney Museum of American Art. "Jacob Lawrence," May 16–July 7, 1974, no. 82.
St. Louis Art Museum. "Jacob Lawrence," August 1–September 1, 1974, no. 82.
Birmingham Museum of Art. "Jacob Lawrence," September 23–October 23, 1974, no. 82.
Seattle Art Museum. "Jacob Lawrence," November 15–December 15, 1974, no. 82.
Kansas City, Mo. William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts. "Jacob Lawrence," January 6–February 6, 1975, no. 82.
New Orleans Museum of Art. "Jacob Lawrence," February 27–March 29, 1975, no. 82.
Brooklyn. Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. "Selected Works by Black Artists from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," April 14–June 14, 1976, unnumbered cat.
New York. Studio Museum in Harlem. "New York/Chicago: WPA and the Black Artist," November 13, 1977–January 8, 1978, unnumbered cat.
Chicago Public Library Cultural Center Exhibit Hall. "WPA and the Black Artist, Chicago and New York," March 22–April 23, 1978, unnumbered cat. (as "Pool Parlors").
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, The Arsenal. "Selected Works by Black Artists from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 7–March 30, 1979, no catalogue.
Albany. New York State Senate. "Twelve Americans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 5–June 20, 1980, unnumbered cat. (p. 17).
New York. City College of New York. "The Artist Celebrates New York: Selected Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 25–December 13, 1985, not in brochure.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Uris Center. "It All Begins With a Dot: Exploring Lines in 20th-Century Art," April 13–December 31, 1988, no catalogue.
New York. Midtown Payson Galleries. "Jacob Lawrence. An Overview: Paintings from 1936–1994," January 12–February 25, 1995, unnumbered cat. (p. 5).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Artists for Victory," October 1, 1996–January 12, 1997, extended to January 22, 1997, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "City Life: Around the Eight," August 22, 2000–January 14, 2001, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "African-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 15–May 4, 2003, extended to July 6, 2003, no. 41.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Kerry James Marshall Selects: Works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 25, 2016–January 29, 2017, no catalogue (p. 267 in "Kerry James Marshall: Mastry" exhibition catalogue).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle," August 29–November 1, 2020, not in catalogue.
A. Hyatt Mayor. Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art. A Picture Book of the Prize Winners. New York, 1942, unpaginated, ill.
"Artists for Victory Score Victory in Metropolitan Exhibition." Art Digest 17 (December 15, 1942), p. 6.
"Record Art Show Has $52,000 Prizes." New York Times (December 8, 1942), p. 30.
Alfred M. Frankfurter. "The Artists for Victory Exhibition: The Paintings." Art News 41 (January 1–14, 1943), p. 12, ill. p. 8.
"Survey of the Month." Opportunity 21 (January 1943), p. 18, ill.
Ben Wolf. "Edith Halpert, Art Crusader, Marks Two Decades of Success." Art Digest 20 (October 15, 1945), p. 10.
Elizabeth McCausland. "Jacob Lawrence." Magazine of Art 38 (November 1945), ill. p. 253.
Fernando Puma. Modern Art Looks Ahead. New York, 1947, ill. n.p.
Edmund Burke Feldman. Varieties of Visual Experience: Art as Image and Idea. 2nd ed., rev. and enl. (1st ed., 1967). New York, 1972, p. 63, ill.
Lowery S. Sims. Selected Works by Black Artists from the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. [New York], 1976, unpaginated.
Henry Geldzahler. Twelve Americans from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., New York State Senate, Albany. New York, 1980, pp. 16–17, ill.
Lowery Sims. "The Metropolitan: Collecting Black Art." Routes Magazine 3 (May 1980), p. 24.
Elsa Honig Fine. The Afro-American Artist: A Search for Identity. (1st ed., 1973). New York, 1982, p. 97, fig. 132, tentatively dates it 1942.
Kathleen Howard, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York, 1983, p. 418, no. 18, ill. (color).
Ellen Harkins Wheat. Jacob Lawrence: American Painter. Exh. cat., Seattle Art Museum. Seattle, 1986, p. 66, pl. 25.
James A. Porter. Modern Negro Art. (1st ed., 1943). Washington, D. C., 1992, p. 267, ill.
Dr. Leslie King-Hammond. Jacob Lawrence. An Overview: Paintings from 1936–1994. Exh. cat., Midtown Payson Galleries. New York, 1995, pp. 4, 25, ill. p. 5 (color).
Milly Heyd. Mutual Reflections: Jews and Blacks in American Art. New Brunswick, N.J., 1999, p. 236 n. 25.
Peter T. Nesbett and Michelle DuBois. Jacob Lawrence: Paintings, Drawings, and Murals (1935–1999). A Catalogue Raisonné. Seattle, 2000, p. 67, no. P42-13, ill. (color).
Peter T. Nesbett and Michelle DuBois, ed. Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence. Exh. cat., Phillips Collection, Washington, D. C. Seattle, 2000, colorpl. 29.
Andrew Hemingway. Artists on the Left: American Artists and the Communist Movement 1926–1956. New Haven, 2002, p. 266.
Lisa Gail Collins inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, pp. 45, 74, no. 41, ill.
Lisa Mintz Messinger inAfrican-American Artists, 1929–1945: Prints, Drawings, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, pp. 15–16, 67.
David Minthorn. "Depression-Era Exhibit Showcases Black Artists." Herald-News (Passaic, NJ) (February 2, 2003), p. B6.
Margaret Rose Vendryes. Barthé: A Life in Sculpture. Jackson, Miss., 2008, pp. 115–16, calls it "Pool Room".
Patricia Hills. Painting Harlem Modern: The Art of Jacob Lawrence. Berkeley, 2009, pp. 176, 183, 339, fig. 124 (color).
Maricelle Robles inMaking The Met, 1870–2020. Ed. Andrea Bayer with Laura D. Corey. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2020, pp. 224, 271 n. 11.
James Panero. "Struggle Session." New Criterion 39 (October 2020), p. 53.
Lowery Stokes Sims inThe Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism. Ed. Denise Murrell. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2024, p. 116, fig. 95 (color, detail), colorpl. 11.
Holland Cotter. "This Time, The Met Aims to Get Harlem Right." New York Times (February 20, 2024), p. A16.
In this short feature, produced to accompany a 1993 LACMA exhibition of Jacob Lawrence’s series on Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, hear from the artist and those who knew him well.
Jacob Lawrence (American, Atlantic City, New Jersey 1917–2000 Seattle, Washington)
1955
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