Night Vision (for Jacob Lawrence), 2007, Collage and gouache on paper, Collection of Richard and Barbara Schiffrin

Audio Description

Night Vision (for Jacob Lawrence) is from 2007. It is collage and gouache on paper. It is in the collection of Richard and Barbara Schiffrin.

This is a vertical abstract painting on paper called Night Vision (for Jacob Lawrence). Driskell used gouache paint and collage to make this artwork. In front of a blue background with red accents, a half-length figure takes up the middle and bottom thirds of the composition. The right side of the face is painted brown with a blue eye, while the left side is a collaged element from one of Driskell’s prints. There is a painted outline of hair or headwear in dark paint around the head. Surrounding the figure, there are vertical leafy plants painted in blue, red, and yellow. The person’s collar and sleeves feature collaged red and black patterns reminiscent of West African textiles. The right sleeve is covered in green leaves, and there is a white and yellow flower in the right hand. Driskell used a lot of yellow paint in the middle of the painting, as if it emanates from the figure to other parts of the picture.

Label Copy

Night Vision (for Jacob Lawrence) is from 2007. It is collage and gouache on paper. It is in the collection of Richard and Barbara Schiffrin.

Artist Jacob Lawrence was an important mentor and colleague of Driskell’s, and their paths intersected several times, including at Fisk and Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. In this homage, a figure bathed in a seemingly self-generated light emerges from the blue of the night. The bifurcated mask-like face includes collage elements from Driskell’s 1986 lithograph, Spirits Watching. Driskell used mask-like faces to express the power and continuing presence of the ancestors.

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