The Migration Series, Panel no. 41: The South was desperate to keep its cheap labor. Northern labor agents were jailed or forced to operate in secrecy.

The binding bars of cages and prisons are a common visual motif in The Migration Series, and are seen here in this panel, with only the hands of the jailed labor agent visible above the daunting stone facade of the prison. In this panel, Lawrence highlights another difficult aspect of the migration, in that many in the South blamed the outside influence of north labor-recruiters as the reason for the migration, rather than lack of opportunity at home. The title of the panel suggests the level of desperation in the South for those who remained.
SKU: 64038
Creator: Jacob Lawrence
Date: between 1940 and 1941
Original Medium: Casein tempera on hardboard
Original Size: 12 x 18 in.
Location: The Phillips Collection
© 2016 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Paper SizePortrait / LandscapeUnframedFramed
Petite8x10 / 10x8$19$109
Small11x14 / 14x11$29$189
Medium16x20 / 20x16$59$279
Large22x28 / 28x22$99$389
Extra Large32x40 / 40x32$159$449