Two women are shown close together in a tightly framed, shoulder-length double portrait, filling nearly the full picture space. They are Black women with medium-to-deep brown skin tones and dark hair styled in soft, mid-century waves. They face forward and meet us with calm, direct gazes, their expressions composed and focused. The woman on the left wears a white blouse with a ruffled neckline while the other woman wears a warm yellow garment with curved accents in red, orange, and green. American artist Loïs Mailou Jones builds their faces with visible, confident brushstrokes using warm browns, blue-gray shadows, white highlights, and rich reds, so their skin is luminous and dimensional rather than flat. Behind them, a patterned background of looping blues, greens, and reds compresses depth and heightens intimacy, making the pair feel both individual and unified. The painting’s strength lies in its balance of closeness and dignity. Jones gives each sitter equal visual weight, allowing relationship (possibly friends, sisters, or companions) to remain open rather than fixed. The frontal scale and patterned backdrop create a modern, almost iconic presentation of Black womanhood, while the loose, expressive handling preserves individuality and psychological presence. Around the mid-1940s, Jones was already an accomplished painter and a pivotal educator at Howard University, shaping generations of artists while navigating the racial and gender exclusions of the U.S. art world. Her work moved across portraiture, design, and transatlantic modernist influences, and this painting reflects that range as decorative pattern and formal experimentation serve the sitters rather than overwhelm them. In the BMA context, the work also carries institutional significance as an important corrective to older collecting histories, asserting Jones’s place in American modernism with clarity and force.

"Untitled (Two Women)" by Loïs Mailou Jones (American) - Oil on linen / c. 1945 - Baltimore Museum of Art (Maryland) #WomenInArt #WomensArt #WomanArtist #WomenArtists #LoisMailouJones #LoïsMailouJones #BMA #BaltimoreMuseumOfArt #artText #art #1940s #BlueskyArt #PortraitOfWomen #BlackArt #BlackArtist

#LoïsMailouJones,

Initiation Liberia, (1983)

A young woman’s head fills the frame as a crisp swath of opaque white paint crosses her eyes like a ritual mask, softening her gaze and signaling transition. Her features are stylized yet tender with full lips, a calm brow, and tightly rendered contours that read as both portrait and emblem. At the left edge, faint, receding profiles echo her silhouette, suggesting elders, ancestors, or fellow initiates. The palette leans into warm earths with saturated black and red accents; patterned passages hint at textile and beadwork without naming a specific motif. A flat, luminous background heightens her stillness, while the white band and layered heads create a quiet rhythm of concealment and emergence. A near-architectural clarity of edge, learned in Paris by the artist and refined over decades, lends the face a sign-like dignity even as the sitter’s poise feels ceremonial, her individuality veiled yet affirmed. American artist Loïs Mailou Jones engages the Sande (women’s) initiation practiced in Liberia and neighboring regions, where white kaolin markings can signify a liminal status and protected learning before public reentry. The band of white, placed over the eyes, speaks to knowledge withheld and about to be revealed. It is a screen the community recognizes and a mirror the initiate carries until she returns transformed. The echoed profiles propose continuity like knowledge moving from elder to novice, generation to generation while the frontal scale insists on the centrality of Black womanhood as bearer of memory. Jones’s color orchestration with earth, ember, and night summons the forest space of seclusion and the warm public of return; her crisp contouring keeps the image modern, resisting ethnographic fixation. Painted in 1983, the work distills two decades of research and travel across eleven African countries into a graphic, humane language that refuses stereotype: not an illustration of ritual but an homage to women’s agency, secrecy, and solidarity.

"Initiation, Liberia" by Loïs Mailou Jones (American) - Acrylic on canvas / 1983 - Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, DC) #WomenInArt #art #artText #WomanArtist #LoïsMailouJones ##LoisMailouJones #SAAM #SmithsonianAmericanArtMuseum #WomensArt #AfricanDiasporaArt #BlackArt #WomenArtists

Happy Wednesday 💐

🎨 Lois Mailou Jones
(1905, Boston-1998)
major figure of the Harlem Renaissance

Horse-drawn carriage,
Stylish Parisian passersby,a testament to her tender and precise vision of the City of Lights, where she lived.

“Paris,Corner of Rue Médard" 1947

#LoïsMailouJones #Paris1947

Lillian Evans Tibbs recalled that she 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 23 operas and 200 songs in 5 languages. In 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. Evanti's attire is striking: a rich, dark crimson jacket with fringed detailing along the sleeves and bodice, paired with a flowing, off-white skirt with delicate lace suggested by the brushstrokes. Her head is adorned with a white and blue veil, embellished with a cluster of yellow flowers. She delicately holds an open hand fan, which shows a spectrum of pastel colors. Her expression is calm, with a soft, engaging look in her dark eyes. Jones uses a painterly style with visible, somewhat loose brushstrokes resulting in a textured and impressionistic quality. This allows for a play of light, which illuminates Evanti's face and creates a gentle glow on her clothing. The background is equally rich, though with abstract, swirling shapes of color like warm golden yellows, rust oranges, and muted greens -- suggesting sunlight and creating an almost dreamy atmosphere. The overall mood is quiet elegance. The colors, dress, and demeanor are suggestive of tranquility with a hint of nostalgia. The contrast between Evanti and the blurred background draws our eyes directly to her beauty and poise.

"Lillian Evanti" by Loïs Mailou Jones (American) - Oil on canvas / 1940 - National Portrait Gallery (Washington DC) #WomenInArt #FemaleArtist #WomenArtists #WomensArt #WomanArtist #PortraitofaWoman #art #artwork #OilPainting #LoïsMailouJones #LoisMailouJones #NationalPortraitGallery #Smithsonian

Jeanne "Jane" Nardal was an Afro Caribbean writer, philosopher, teacher, and political commentator from Martinique, West Indies. She and her sister, Paulette Nardal, are considered to have laid the theoretical and philosophical groundwork of the Négritude movement, a cultural, political, and literary movement, which first emerged in 1930s, Paris, France and sought to unite Black intellectuals in the current and former French colonies. The term "Négritude" itself was coined by Martiniquan writer-activist Aimé Césaire, one of the three individuals formally recognized as the "fathers" of the cultural movement, along with Senegalese poet Léopold Senghor and French Guianese writer Léon Damas. It was not until relatively recently, however, that the women involved in the Négritude movement, including Jane and Paulette Nardal, began to receive the recognition they were due. American artist Loïs Mailou Jones's painting "Jeanne, Martiniquaise" was completed in 1938 while the artist was in Europe on an extended sabbatical to study art. The portrait is a notable example of her work, showcasing a shift towards an expressive late Impressionist style. It reflects her move away from strict academic realism towards a style reminiscent of Camille Pissarro and early Henri Matisse. The composition is a close-up portrait of Jeanne, focusing on her head and upper body. The colors are muted, with earth tones and varying shades of brown, red, and green, creating a contemplative mood. The brushstrokes are visible, suggesting Jones’ painterly style. The framing is tight, emphasizing the subject's features and expression. Jeanne's face is characterized by a thoughtful expression and a focused gaze downward, and a muted palette of colors. Her head wrap is a combination of red and green stripes. Her clothing is detailed with a mix of patterns and colors. Jones captures the texture and depth of the clothing through both soft and strong brushstrokes.

“Jeanne, Martiniquaise” by Loïs Mailou Jones (American) - Oil on canvas / 1938 - Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, Massachusetts) #WomenInArt #art #WomanArtist #FemalePainter #ArtText #artwork #LoïsMailouJones #WomensArt #LoisMailouJones #AfricanAmericanArtist #WomenArtists #MFAB #MuseumofFineArtsBoston

#LoïsMailouJones

Paris le Soir circa (1948-50)

In the center of this rectangular, portrait-mode artwork is the sketch of the top portion of a pale face, showing eyes, eyebrows and nose. Three lines descend from each eye. This partial face is surrounded by a patterned painted frame in black, tan and yellow. To either side of the frame is a black face in silhouette against a blood-red background. Above and below this center panel are brightly colored geometrical patterns of the same length and height as the center panel.

Moon Masque, 1971, by #LoïsMailouJones (American, 1905-1998), who died #otd, Jun 9. Held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/artwork/moon...
 
#artherstory #womenartists

#Noël, c 1937-1948, by #LoïsMailouJones (American, 1905-1998). Held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/artwork/noel... #artherstory #womenartists #MerryChristmas

Jardin du Luxembourg, c. 1948, by #LoïsMailouJones (American, 1905-1998), who was born #otd, Nov 3. Held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, americanart.si.edu/artwork/jard...

#womenartists #artherstory