The Life and Art of Lois Mailou Jones

Benjamin, Tritobia Hayes; Jones, Lois Mailou

Pomegranate, 1994

[From the library of Dr. Ralph Gomes, Howard University.] Hardcover and dust jacket. Dust jacket in protective mylar cover. Good binding and cover. Minor shelf wear. Clean, unmarked pages. xviii, 142 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 31 cm. 

Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998) was an American painter and educator whose works reflect a command of widely varied styles, from traditional landscape to African-themed abstraction. In the early 1930s Jones's art reflected the influences of African traditions. She designed African-style masks and in 1938 painted Les Fetiches, which depicts masks in five distinct, ethnic styles. 

Dr. Gomes was a professor at Howard University for 49 years in sociology and criminology. He was also a former Olympic athlete, representing Guyana in the 1960 Rome summer Olympics. Besides his scholarly work, Gomes was active in the black liberation movement. He had an impressive and deep collection of black art, historical advertising and iconography that spoke of the passage of black people and how they sought to record their life stories. His collection spanned from slavery, to antebellum life, to Jim Crow, to the Harlem Renaissance, to sport, to the civil rights movement. 

This is an oversized or heavy book, which requires additional postage for international delivery outside the US.