Philome and Robert by Lois Mailou Jones   – October Gallery

Price: $On Request
Philome and Robert
by Lois Mailou Jones  
Original On Canvas
Size: 35″ x 45″   Approx

Loïs Mailou Jones (b. November 3, 1905 Boston, MA. – d. June 9, 1998 Washington, D.C.) wanted to be remembered as an artist, not an African-American or woman artist. Her life spanned almost all of the twentieth century—a time of unprecedented changes in American history—and she was an active participant in the development of African-American influence in the arts.  Loïs Mailou Jones is a trailblazer, a respected college professor, an artist ambassador, and an international expert on culture who documented everything she saw and did as a painter in the Harlem Renaissance, as an illustrator for Carter Woodson, a colleague of Alain Locke and Langston Hughes, an educator and mentor, and a champion of black artists in Africa and the Caribbean.

Along with being an award-winning artist, Loïs became known as a tireless advocate for international artists, especially for Africans and Haitians who would not have been known outside of their own countries without her help.  Loïs’ first four-month visit to eleven African countries (Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal) resulted in new cultural understandings for Americans and Africans, and she continued making those personal and political connections for the rest of her life. Her archive of over 1000 slides and other information are an important source of African and Caribbean art history.

Loïs was fond of saying, “At 90, I arrived!”  Lois was invited to the White House eight times, she visited and spoke at 15 foreign embassies, many dozens of college campuses and international events. She was one of the longest living artists of the Harlem Renaissance, but is only now being recognized and studied as a trailblazer in the Civil Rights movement.  She knew many heads of state personally, painted their official portraits, and received their awards and citations. Today her work is in public buildings, museums and private homes all over the world.  Loïs Mailous Jones is known as an artist, without any additional limiting descriptions.

Offered at $On Request