2026 A rediscovered Jacob Lawrence painting goes on view in Atlanta

A Jacob Lawrence painting the public last saw in 1943 is back on view. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta acquired Night (And then they go to sleep) in 2025 and debuted it this fall in its reinstalled American art galleries, part of the museum’s centennial.

Night (And then they go to sleep) is number 12 of the 30 paintings in Lawrence’s Harlem series of 1943, made two years after The Migration Series. It is a small work, watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paper, about 14 by 21 inches. A family lies together at home under a quilt of patterned blocks, their faces drawn as masks. The High calls it a rare early example of Lawrence’s scenes of everyday life.

The painting was shown once, with the rest of the Harlem series in 1943, and then dropped out of public view. American Fine Art Magazine reports that it was bought directly out of that exhibition and passed through collections in New York and Michigan before it resurfaced in a private collection in California.

The High bought it with support from several funds, including the David C. Driskell African American Art Acquisition Fund. The museum says the painting gives it a leading place in new research on Lawrence’s early years and on his ties to Southern art and culture.

High Museum of Art, 2025 acquisitions press release

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