The Toledo Museum of Art is thrilled to host Jacob Lawrence’s beloved works for the first time in more than five decades, bringing together 110 pieces from Lawrence’s work in Nigeria and works by the Mbari Artists and Writers Club. Come explore the vibrant and meaningful exhibit depicting the global impact of Lawrence and other international artists who channeled their cultural identities through art as countries gained independence around the world.

The Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) presents a remarkable collection of works by Jacob Lawrence, seen together for the first time in more than five decades. This exhibition of 110 objects pairs Lawrence’s pieces produced during his time in Nigeria with paintings, sculptures, reliefs, and works on paper by Mbari Artists and Writers Club members, such as Twins Seven-Seven, Muraina Oyelami, Asiru Olatunde, and Jacob Afolabi. Additionally, out-of-print copies of the Nigeria-based literary journal (1957-67) will be available, introducing visitors to African and African Diasporic writers and visual artists. This is an incredible opportunity to explore and appreciate the work of Jacob Lawrence and the other talented artists featured in this exhibition, which is on view from June 3 – September 3.

The Toledo Museum of Art is proud to share the vibrant and important exhibition emphasizing Jacob Lawrence’s global impact through his work and the work of other international artists who used visual arts to reframe their national and cultural identities as countries around the world established their independence. This powerful exhibition will be a great opportunity for not only the Toledo audience but also the broader region, to appreciate this meaningful artwork.

In 1962, Lawrence visited the Nigerian cities of Lagos, Osogbo, and Ibadan for 10 days to showcase his work from the 1941, 1946-47 series. After exhibiting at the West African headquarters for the American Society of African Culture (AMSAC) in Lagos, Lawrence was invited by Ulli Beier, a German cultural critic and co-founder of the Mbari Artists and Writers Club in Ibadan, to present his work there. Lawrence returned with his wife Gwendolyn Knight in 1964 for an 8-month stay, during which he created a series of tempera and gouache paintings and nine crayon and ink drawings of the marketplaces in Lagos and Ibadan. These works were presented at the Terry Dintenfass Gallery in New York in 1965.

Proudly, the upcoming exhibition will chronicle Lawrence’s journey and showcase the artists with whom he shared a mutual admiration in five sections: Nigeria, Artists of Osogbo, Zaria Art Society, Across the African Continent, and Beyond the African Continent. This exploration of Lawrence’s time in Nigeria and his ongoing legacy of African American artists venturing to the continent for knowledge and inspiration promises to be an enlightening experience. Viewers will be welcomed with vibrant colors, bustling streets, and marketplaces captured in works such as (1966) that brim with fabric patterns sold in Lagos markets.

The influence of older Western and non-Western artists is apparent in the Artists of Osogbo section, exemplified by Twins Seven-Seven who attended Mbari Mbayo workshops led by British artist Georgina Beier and produced works such as those focused on Yoruba mythology. Western art techniques, local aesthetics, and cultural traditions come together in the Zaria Art Society portion of the exhibition. These artists, many of whom were considered rebels, embraced the challenge to pair Indigenous practices with Western techniques to produce Nigeria’s new national identity.

The exhibition also features the work of Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian, who merges Surrealism with Coptic Christian iconography and African history in his semi-abstract works. Visitors will encounter a range of iconic modernist artists from Nigeria, Brazil, India, Japan, and beyond, all of whom have had their works published, reviewed, or exhibited for the first time in Nigeria thanks to the Mbari Club gallery space.

These celebrated artists, including Onobrakpeya, Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko, Genaro de Carvalho, and Naoko Matsubara, have produced works that reflect their own cultural and national ties, providing a powerful visual representation of the post-colonial era in Nigeria and Africa.

This exhibition proudly showcases how the arts and culture journal (1957–1967) promoted African art and literature internationally, as well as exploring Lawrence’s little-known journey to Nigeria, and the Mbari Artists and Writers Club’s growing influence and innovative approaches to art.

It is co-organized by the Chrysler Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art, and curated by Kimberli Gant, Ph.D., and Ndubuisi Ezeluomba, Ph.D.. A full-color catalog published by Yale University Press accompanies the exhibition, featuring essays from noteworthy scholars, including Leslie King-Hammond and Peter Probst, as well as emerging research from Suheyla Takesh, Katrina Greven, and Iheanyi Onwuegbucha.

This exhibition is proudly made possible by major funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Getty Foundation Paper Project, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art. It is also supported locally by season sponsor ProMedica, presenting sponsors Susan and Tom Palmer, Taylor Automotive, and the TMA Ambassadors, as well as the Ohio Arts Council (OAC).

The Toledo Museum of Art offers an exciting opportunity to appreciate the scope of Jacob Lawrence’s unique global impact through an art exhibition of the works created both during and after his immersion in Nigeria. From midcentury sculpture and painting to out-of-print literary journals, there is something extraordinary waiting to be seen at the museum this summer. Together with the work of Mbari Artists and Writers Club members, revisit one of the greatest gifts of art culture from the world beyond by revisiting Lawrence’s living legacy from this remarkable exhibition.