The series painted by Jacob Lawrence named “Legends of John Brown” portrays Brown as a visionary and confident leader and a martyr who is willing to sacrifice his own life for the cause of abolishing slavery. He believed that the reason for his existence was to devote himself to a lifelong struggle for justice among the races. During the process, as a radical abolitionist, he was inclined to use murderous methods and take risks of everything he had control over, even the life of his sons. As a result of his single-mindedness and fierce dedication, he achieved profound attainments in sparking a national protest against the institution of slavery. He remains a legendary hero of Americans, especially of the people who later continued in his footsteps until now.
As indicated in the title of the series, Lawrence heroized Brown by depicting his greatest achievements. Four paintings from the series capture different aspects of this extreme individual. In the painting “In spite of a price on his head, John Brown, in 1859, liberated 12 negros from Missouri plantations between 1974 and 1977,” Lawrence shows Brown trudging along a path, dripping blood after this courageous mission full of dire consequences. The title also gives a context of the chances of significant repercussions that this operation had, and how he carried risks for the purpose of discharging the slaves, which he did successfully. In “John Brown made many trips to Canada organizing for his assault on Harpers Ferry, 1941,” Brown, encircled by black figures covered in clothes, plots and writes his dream of free America and equal rights. Lawrence deliberately paints the African Americans with ambiguity, as registered in their eyes. In that period, it was uncommon for a white man, even an abolitionist, to collaborate with people of color. The composition demonstrates how Brown was immensely absorbed in his commission that he did not mind the intense atmosphere the surrounders gave and the judgment that the general audience would have on him. “…John Brown with a company of 21 men, white and black, marched on Harpers Ferry, between 1974 and 1977,” records the march of the John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry, putting us, the audience, in the opponents’ point of view. This stimulates the audience to inspect the raid from an entirely distinctive point of view and presents new interpretations of the vehement method that Brown used for his goal of complete eradication. However, the author himself does not assert an impression on the brutality even though he acknowledges and captures Brown’s actions. Jacob Lawrence also paints “After John Brown’s capture, he was put on trial for his life in Charles Town, Virginia, 1941,” where Brown is praying in a humble stance knowing that he will be executed. This painting delivers Brown’s beliefs as an outright Christian that god is always accompanying him even during the severest situations and afflictions, as the first painting also conveyed. The painting carries out the humbleness Brown had, which, in contrast to the bold and shameless trait he had, was also a part of him.
“The Legends of John Brown” introduces the abundant characters that John Brown had, and also attempts to leave the most notable fulfillments of John Brown as a legend. As much as Lawrence expressed his statement in the paintings, he also desired the viewers to interpret Brown’s steps through his paintings.
