This page was created by Andre John Adams.  The last update was by William Armacost.

Haiti to Harlem: Toussaint L'Ouverture & Jacob Lawrence Main Menu Jacob Lawrence: The Storyteller Paintings to Prints The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture in Print Contextualizing The Prints Curating the Exhibition Imprints and Impact Highlights the impact of the Jacob Lawrence prints in relation to both Lawrence's life and the history of global POC liberation. About the Curators Meet the Fall 2024 Curatorial Class! Select Bibliography

Toussaint at Ennery

46117

Left: Toussaint defeats Napoleon's troops at Ennery (1938) / Right: Toussaint at Ennery (1989)

Toussaint at Ennery captures a pivotal moment in the Haitian Revolution, depicting Toussaint L'Ouverture's troops rushing into battle. Using bold colors and compressed repeating figures, Lawrence transforms the scene into a visceral representation of revolutionary spirit. The foreground's flame-like foliage evokes revolutionary fire, while the cavalry's dynamic movement symbolizes the collective struggle for freedom from colonization, embodying the strategic guerilla tactics that would ultimately challenge colonial power. Diverging from the original painting, Lawrence's print transforms the grass in the foreground into multi-colored flames, perhaps a reference to the colors of the Haitian flag. Although L'Ouverture was the leader of the revolutionary forces and the subject of this print's title, the scene emphasizes the unifying goal of the revolutionary troops: to secure their freedom from colonization. 

This page has paths:

  1. Paintings to Prints Ava Echard

This page references: