SIDNEY LAWRENCE (b. San Francisco, California, 1948)

West–East, 1988
ink and colored pencil

Collection of the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts
The Jack Blanton Collection
Gift of Jack Blanton
2010.41.19

The inspiration for this drawing came from an image in which Uncle Sam is merged with a U.S. map that the artist created as a child. Here the artist has updated the image by depicting elements from his birthplace of San Francisco and his home since the mid-1970s, Washington, D.C. In particular, note the inclusion of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (the round building). Lawrence was the museum’s press officer from 1975 to 2003.

Lawrence holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and M.A. from the University of California, Davis. His works have been exhibited extensively in Washington, D.C. As a critic he writes regularly for Artnet magazine and Art in America. Lawrence has also curated exhibitions for the Hirshhorn. Most recently he guest curated a traveling exhibition, Roger Brown: Southern Exposure, for the Jule Collins Smith Museum at Auburn University.