Olympic Games 1971

This screenprint was made by Jacob Lawrence, for the 1972 Munich Olympics. The print shows a relay race with dynamic, angular runners. It's fascinating how Lawrence simplifies the forms but captures the energy and movement of the athletes. I love the palette, how the limited range of greens, reds, blues and browns pop against the cool gray of the track. The colours are flat, applied in large, solid areas, which gives the image a graphic, almost poster-like quality. The texture is smooth and uniform; it’s hard to see the hand of the artist, which makes it feel modern. There’s a striking contrast between the rounded forms of the runners’ bodies and the sharp angles of their limbs. I find myself looking at the blue and red shoe in the lower left corner. See how the colours are mirrored in the runner's vest? It brings a sense of balance to the whole composition. Lawrence’s use of simplified forms and bold colors reminds me of Matisse. Both artists share a love for flattening space and emphasizing the decorative potential of color and form, focusing on the human form in motion. Ultimately, the print celebrates the power of art to capture the essence of human experience through simple, yet evocative forms.