Confrontation at the Bridge -Jacob Lawrence

At the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art is one of Jacob Lawrence’s limited edition Confrontation at the Bridge silkscreen prints. The print was completed in 1975 but depicts the 1963 March from Selma, Alabama.

The group of civil rights activists tries to cross a bridge in Selma on their way to Montgomery. My first reaction to the piece was one of panic and shock. Even before I knew what was being documented, I felt the horror of the painting thanks mostly to the color palette. The use of primary hues of such intensity right next to each other is really unsettling. The glowing white eyes placed flatly on the sides of the dark faces, as well as the horrible grimaces work together to create a very intense painting. The figures look very distressed as they contort at hard angles. A similar harshness is present in the water with colored reflections that zigzag and suggest a sky of yellow lightning and black, looming clouds.

The whole painting is reflective of the artist’s statement; “As long as we have the capacity to struggle against the odds . . . it’s a very good sign that we are progressing as human beings” (Lawrence, The Glory of Expression) The marching protestors are faced with many obstacles like the dog at the other side of the bridge. The dog may be a police attack dog or possibly a wolf-like monster symbolizing the many obstacles ahead. Lawrence forces diagonal eye movement with the lines of the bridge. This element of the print also affects the balance of the composition and heightens the sense of danger. All of the people stand on one side of the bridge, inching backward, making the right side of the composition and the bridge feel heavy. This aspect also shows that these people are fighting a very difficult, uphill battle. At this “moment before the peak of the conflict”, (Jacob Lawrence, The Glory of Expression, 1998) the singular canine seems stronger than the whole group of marchers because of the imbalance.

In this particular painting, Lawrence shows the activists with real emotions rather than making them overly brave and confident to face their challenges. If the viewer knows what event is being depicted, they know that the marchers were indeed brave and eventually were stronger than racism. However, in this moment in time, they show raw fear as they clench their teeth, inch backward, and firmly grip the railings. Lawrence stated in the biographical film, The Glory of Expression, “I exaggerate the hand or foot [because it is] so important in terms of design”. The disfigured fingers, enlarged hands, and harsh angles help to convey the sense of panic and desperation in the figures. However, the most heart-wrenching tactic used in the piece is the artist’s decision to have one set of eyes in the crowd meet ours’. The majority of the crowd is unaware of our observation but this one man looks to us with sadness and seems to wonder why we would let this happen.


Bibliography

Brown, Milton W. Jacob Lawrence. Whitney Museum of American Art. New York:
S.D. Scott Printing Company, 1974

Jacob Lawrence- The Glory of Expression, VHS. L&S Video Inc., 1998

Lawrence, Jacob. Confrontation at the Bridge. Savannah College of Art and Design
Museum of Art. Savannah, GA: May 11, 2009