Immigrants admitted from all countries: 1820 to 1840 —15,773
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.A table of immigration statistics published in Richard B. Morris’s Encyclopedia of American History (1953) inspired this unlocated painting, which is known only through a black-and-white reproduction. A trio of figures, perhaps a family, huddles together. The male figure, who wears a shawl, clutches what could be a prayer book, a common possession among nineteenth-century immigrants traveling to America, who were often fleeing religious persecution. Many of these immigrants arrived only with what could be carried, symbolized here by the exaggerated size of the figures’ hands.
Artwork Details
- Title: Immigrants admitted from all countries: 1820 to 1840 —15,773
- Artist: Jacob Lawrence (American, Atlantic City, New Jersey 1917–2000 Seattle, Washington)
- Date: 1956
- Medium: Reproduction of egg tempera original
- Dimensions: 12 × 16 in. (30.5 × 40.6 cm)
- Classification: Reproductions
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2022 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art