Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence was an African American painter who was known for portraying African American life in his paintings. In this painting, “Olympic Games Munich 1972 (Olympische Spiele Munchen 1972)” he paints the faces of five runners taking a giant stride around the curve of the track as they head towards the finish line. Each athlete is shown in a different position as they head down the start way. This painting takes place in the 1972 summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. I like this painting because each one of the runners has the Olympic colors on them, such as the colors red, blue, green, yellow, and black. I think it is interesting that he was able to capture the different emotions that all of the runners are feeling as they finish the race. I hope I am able to do that for my midterm project.