Fishermen, Fishing Boats and Women

Recipient of the Harmon Foundation award, and an influential artist and teacher during her seven-decade career. Lois Mailou Jones was mentored by sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller, attending the Designers Art School of Boston and later the Académie Julien in Paris. Her subjects were some of the first paintings by an African American to extend beyond the realm of portraiture. Jones was a prolific artist and teacher at Howard University and earned many honors, among them the Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Visual Arts bestowed by President Jimmy Carter at the White House in 1980. Jones was one of the most notable figures to attain notoriety for her art while living as a black expatriate in Paris during the 1930s and 1940s. Her career began in textile design before she decided to focus on fine arts. Jones looked towards Africa and the Caribbean and her experiences in life when painting. As a result, her subjects were some of the first paintings by an African-American artist to extend beyond the realm of portraiture.

Lois Mailou Jones was mentored by sculptor Meta Warrick Fuller, attending the Designers Art School of Boston and later the Académie Julien in Paris. Her subjects were some of the first paintings by an African American to extend beyond the realm of portraiture. Jones was a prolific artist and teacher at Howard University and earned many honors, among them the Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Visual Arts bestowed by President Jimmy Carter at the White House in 1980.