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Artworks

Tools, 1977

  • Artist

    Jacob Lawrence

  • Title

    Tools

  • Date

    1977

  • Medium

    Lithograph on paper

  • Dimensions

    26 × 21 3/4 in. (66 × 55.2 cm)

  • Edition

    ed: 100/300

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Francine Seders Gallery and Gwendolyn Knight, Seattle

  • Object Number

    2000.5.2

During the last three decades of his life, Jacob Lawrence created many paintings, drawings, and prints around the theme of building and construction. The subjects of these works are construction workers, carpenters, bricklayers, and cabinetmakers working or going about their daily lives. These figures came to symbolize Lawrence’s belief in the possibility of building a better world through hard work, persistence, and a shared sense of responsibility. Here, a builder, surrounded by his tools, is collapsed over a table after a long day of work.


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Artworks

Tools, 1977

  • Artist

    Jacob Lawrence

  • Title

    Tools

  • Date

    1977

  • Medium

    Lithograph on paper

  • Dimensions

    26 × 21 3/4 in. (66 × 55.2 cm)

  • Edition

    ed: 100/300

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Francine Seders Gallery and Gwendolyn Knight, Seattle

  • Object Number

    2000.5.2

During the last three decades of his life, Jacob Lawrence created many paintings, drawings, and prints around the theme of building and construction. The subjects of these works are construction workers, carpenters, bricklayers, and cabinetmakers working or going about their daily lives. These figures came to symbolize Lawrence’s belief in the possibility of building a better world through hard work, persistence, and a shared sense of responsibility. Here, a builder, surrounded by his tools, is collapsed over a table after a long day of work.


Explore further