Born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1905, artist Loïs Mailou Jones’s career spanned much of the 20th Century as both a painter and a teacher of generations of Black artists at Howard University.
Jones faced racial discrimination in the US throughout much of her long life, and found refuge and inspiration in the Harlem Renaissance Movement and in the expatriate community of Black artists in Paris. Her 1953 marriage to Haitian artist Louis Vergniaud Pierre-Noel, and later research trips to Africa further influenced her work.
Her many important paintings include The Ascent of Ethiopia (1932); Les Fétiches (1938); Self-Portrait (1940); Mob Victim (Meditation) (1944); Jardin du Luxembourg (1948); Jeune Fille Française (1951); Ode to Kinshasa (1972); Ubi Girl from Tai Region (1972); Suriname (1982); and Glyphs (1985).
Joining me to help us learn more about Loïs Mailou Jones is writer Jennifer Higgie, author of the new book, The Mirror and the Palette: Rebellion, Revolution, and Resilience: Five Hundred Years of Women's Self Portraits.
Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The episode image is Loïs Mailou Jones, 1937, from the Loïs Mailou Jones Pierre-Noël Trust.
Other Selected Sources:

“Lois Mailou Jones, 92, Painter and Teacher” by Holland Cotter, New York Times, June 13, 1998.

“Lois Mailou Jones: An Indefatigable Black Woman Artist,” by Betty Perry, The Washington Post, February 23, 1983.

“An Interview with Lois Mailou Jones,” by Charles H. Rowell, Callaloo, Vol. 12 No. 2, p. 357-378.

“Loïs Mailou Jones: Creating A New African-American Image,” by Greg Cook, WBUR, February 27, 2013.

“Interview with Lois Mailou Jones [video],” Good Morning America, February 1, 1996.

“Loïs Mailou Jones and David C. Driskell: Intersecting Legacies [video],” The Phillips Collection, October 28, 2020.

“Remembering The Masters: Lois Mailou Jones [video],” Sankofa Studios, March 16, 2020.


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