The Card Game
Jacob Lawrence's "The Card Game" depicts a group of four card players, two men and two women, seated around a red table wearing embellished garments and looking deeply engaged in their game. This scene is framed by an arch of white curtains, and the brilliant light that illuminates from within the group is similar to card playing scenes from Northern Renaissance artists like Caravaggio and Adam de Coster. Lawrence, like Sargent Claude Johnson, was inspired by Mexican muralists, particularly José Clemente Orozco, who employed vivid colors and expressive figures in his works. "The Card Game" falls within Lawrence's greater body of work, which highlights scenes in and around his Harlem neighborhood in the 1950s, giving vibrant glimpses into social gatherings.
The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art
One of the most important collections of African American visual art dating from the 18th century to the present, the collection includes 62 works from Edward Bannister, Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Robert S. Duncanson, Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence and others. This collection forms the foundation of a multidisciplinary center for the study, understanding and appreciation of African American art and culture. Items from the collection have previously rotated in the Evans Center Gallery and through unique exhibitions such as the 2012 "Life's Link: A Fred Wilson Installation," and the 2017 travelling exhibition of Jacob Lawrence's work.