Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Knight, A. Newman, 1947

In this photograph, Lawrence appears in his WW II Coast Guard uniform. He was just sixteen when the two met in Harlem in 1933, where Knight was employed by the WPA and studying art under sculptor Augusta Savage. Born in Barbados, Knight emigrated to the U.S., attending Howard University until the Depression. Married in 1941, the couple honeymooned in New Orleans; Lawrence had never been to the South. In 1946 the couple was invited to Black Mountain College, where Lawrence taught art, and Knight, dance. When Lawrence was offered a tenured position at U. Washington in 1971, the couple moved to Seattle, where both were influential and beloved as artists. They were married for nearly 60 years. Lawrence is best known for his 60-panel Migration Series (half at MOMA, where Knight is also collected). Knight is best known for her colorful, lively figurative portraits.