General Toussaint L'Ouverture
Artist
Jacob Lawrence
MediumSilk screen on Bainbridge two-ply rag paper
Dimensions23 3/8 x 18 1/2 in. (59.4 x 47 cm)
ClassificationsPrint
Credit LineSeattle Public Utilities 1% for Art Portable Works Collection
François-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture (1743 – 1803) was the leader of the Haitian independence movement during the French Revolution. He emancipated the slaves and negotiated for the French colony on Hispaniola, Saint-Domingue (later Haiti), to be governed, briefly, by black former slaves as a French protectorate. His political acumen and leadership mobilized an entire society of slaves into what would become the Republic of Haiti.
