...is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the prices of chains and slavery? Patrick Henry-1775
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The title of this panel is drawn from a speech delivered by Virginia statesman Patrick Henry defending the colonial cause. Its reference to enslavement galvanized patriots to demand liberty from the British—an argument hypocritical to some, coming from a Southern enslaver. In the painting, Lawrence dramatically positioned a figure at top left, gesticulating above a rallying crowd. The man also clutches a rifle that undergirds raised fists, including one blocking a woman and child from a bayonet. Faces of all tonalities focus intently on the speaker amid the chaotic scene, which the dynamic composition reinforces. At right, a dark wall with red drips foreshadows the bloody struggles to come.
Artwork Details
- Title: ...is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the prices of chains and slavery? Patrick Henry-1775
- Artist: Jacob Lawrence (American, Atlantic City, New Jersey 1917–2000 Seattle, Washington)
- Date: 1955
- Medium: Tempera on hardboard
- Dimensions: 12 × 16 in. (30.5 × 40.6 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Collection of Harvey and Harvey-Ann Ross
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2022 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art