Funeral Sermon, Jacob Lawrence, 1946, Brooklyn Museum, 48.24, watercolor and graphite with some varnish on heavy textured wove paper.

Funeral Sermon, 1946 depicts a deceased woman wearing a white dress, with grey skin and dark hair. The picture portrays her lying on a red coffin with swirls on the edges of the coffin. A heart shaped funeral arrangement in white and red flowers sits on top of the coffin, and there are little details in the heart, and they have different designs inside of them. The women are in the center of the picture, but in the back of the painting there are three different men that are conducting the funeral. When observing this image, the painting shows the real connection that the artist has to the painting, for example Lawrence is commenting on the importance of spirituality in the African American community. The painting connects to the realism principle. Barrett states, “in simple terms, a theory of Realism would have one believe that a work of visual art should look like what it is meant to show. ‘realism in art as the quality of a depiction which allows the viewer quickly and easily to recognize what it is a picture of:  that quality of a literary text which relates it closely to everyday life” ( 21). This connects to the realism principle because we are focusing on real events that happened in history, and then when going to this exhibit you saw how African American people were treated, and how we as a society cannot erase the past. The painting also shows the real connection that the Artist has to the painting, for example Lawrence is making a commentary in the African American community.