Lillian Evanti

Lillian Evans Tibbs recalled that she once dreamed of “crossing the ocean and finding in some other land opportunities which the color barrier made impossible here in the United States.” In 1924, the aspiring opera diva took that chance, leaving her husband and son behind and journeying alone to Paris. Under the stage name Madame Evanti, she became the first African American to perform with the grand opera companies of Europe. She mastered twenty-three operas and two hundred songs in five languages.

In the summer of 1939, Evanti met Loïs Mailou Jones, who shared her nostalgia for Paris. Their frequent meetings, Jones recalled, “recreated for me some of the heady artistic ambiance I had enjoyed in Paris.” In 1940, Jones painted Evanti in her costume from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. The vibrant colors and exuberant patterns convey the happiness the women associated with Paris and relived through their friendship.