The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country. -Thomas Paine, 1776
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.In his influential pamphlet The American Crisis, English-born American political theorist and abolitionist Thomas Paine equated Britain’s tyranny over the colonists with slavery. In the wake of military setbacks, he sensed a wavering in many Americans—"fair-weather soldiers"— and urged them to renew their commitment to the freedom cause. Lawrence’s quiet scene depicts groups of battle-weary men, some wounded, huddled together against the cold. The isolated figure at right, cloaked in yellow and perched on a shrouded cannon, may represent the unwavering dedication of the nine thousand soldiers of color who fought with the Continental army. In a 1968 interview, Lawrence commented on the significant contributions of Black patriots to the Revolution.
Artwork Details
- Title: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country. -Thomas Paine, 1776
- Artist: Jacob Lawrence (American, Atlantic City, New Jersey 1917–2000 Seattle, Washington)
- Date: 1955
- Medium: Egg tempera on hardboard
- Dimensions: 12 × 16 in. (30.5 × 40.6 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Renee and Chaim Gross Foundation
- Rights and Reproduction: © 2022 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art