Loïs Mailou Jones (1905-1998) practiced art for more than eighty years, becoming a role model for Black artists in America, and championing African-American art around the world.
Loïs Mailou Jones (1905-1998) practiced art for more than eighty years, becoming a role model for Black artists in America, and championing African-American art around the world.
History classes can get a bad wrap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Sundus Hassan, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejada. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at pod@wondermedianetwork.com.
Investing Involves Risk. Consider the Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus and the statement of additional information include this and other relevant information about the Funds and are available by visiting EQULetf.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing. IndexIQ® is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of New York Life Investment Management Holdings LLC and serves as the advisor to the IndexIQ ETFs. ALPS Distributors, Inc. (ALPS) is the principal underwriter of the ETFs. NYLIFE Distributors LLC is a distributor of the ETFs. NYLIFE Distributors LLC is located at 30 Hudson Street, Jersey City, NJ 07302. ALPS Distributors, Inc. is not affiliated with NYLIFE Distributors LLC. NYLIFE Distributors LLC is a Member FINRA/SIPC.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
To take the Womanica listener survey, please visit: https://wondermedianetwork.com/survey
Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan. This is Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about visionaries.
Today, we’ll hear about a woman who practiced art for more than eighty years, becoming a role model for Black artists in America, and championing African-American art around the world.
Let’s talk about Loïs Mailou Jones.
Loïs was born in Boston in 1905. She was born to middle-class parents, Carolyn and Thomas Vreeland Jones.
From a very young age, Loïs loved color and drawing. Her parents encouraged her to pursue her creative talents and bought her watercolor paints and colored pencils.
Loïs attended the High School of Practical Arts in Boston. And in the afternoons, after class, she would walk down to the Museum of Fine Arts for drawing classes.
Growing up, Loïs’s family spent summers on Martha’s Vineyard, where she was able to meet a variety of influential artists. One who would become particularly important in her life was sculptor Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller. Martha’s Vineyard was also where Loïs had her first solo show at the age of 17.
In 1928, she graduated from the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts with a degree in textile design. She worked for a while as a textile designer, and then began teaching, first in North Carolina, and then at Howard University. But Loïs realized that in order to really make a name for herself in the art world, she needed to paint.
It wouldn’t be easy though. Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller and a number of other artists she knew told Loïs that she would never get recognized for her talent in the U.S. as a Black artist. France was the place to be. And so she took a sabbatical from Howard University and went to Paris in 1937, where she studied art at the Académie Julian. She would later say that France gave her stability, and “the assurance that I was talented and that I should have a successful career.”
In 1938, Loïs would make one of her best known paintings: Les Fétiches. It’s a dark, geometric painting featuring overlapping masks from different African tribes.
When she was studying in Paris, her teachers questioned her use of African themes. Loïs had an answer for that -- if artists like Matisse or Picasso could use them, “don’t you think I should?”
She would travel throughout the world, painting and studying, in Italy, Haiti, and throughout Africa. Upon returning to the United States, she was back in the depths of racism and prejudice.
Loïs was making artistic strides, yet still, she faced barriers to getting her work shown. It became such an issue that she would ship her art to museums in crates rather than delivering anything in person. That way, she wouldn’t get shut down just because she was a Black woman. And it worked. She would get hung in galleries and museums without the curators knowing she was Black.
In 1941, Loïs received an award from the Corcoran Gallery, and she used a similar tactic: She sent a white friend to submit the entry and claim the prize. Loïs worried the award would be rescinded if they found out the artist was Black. After all, she had been told that very thing had happened once before with another award she was nominated for.
Eventually, museums and galleries around the world enthusiastically exhibited her work on its own merit. Because it was painted by Loïs Mailou Jones.
In 1980, President Jimmy Carter presented her with an award of Outstanding Achievement in the Arts.
When Loïs was 84 years old, “The World of Loïs Mailou Jones,” a sweeping retrospective exhibition, opened at Meridian House International in DC.
Throughout it all, she kept teaching and she kept painting.
Loïs died in Washington DC on June 9, 1998.
You can still see her work around the world, hanging among the greats, as a peer.
All month, we’re honoring incredible, artistic visionaries.
For more information and pictures of some of the work we’re talking about, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. And another special thanks to Alesandra Tejeda who curated this month’s theme.