Lois Mailou Jones

American, 1905 - 1998

Explore Selected Works

Lois Mailou Jones, The Green Door, 1981, watercolor over graphite on wove paper, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, William A. Clark Fund), 2015.19.2951

The Green Door

Lois Mailou Jones · 1981 · watercolor over graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.2951

Shown from the shoulders up, a woman and man, both with brown skin, look at each other in this horizontal portrait painting. Their bodies are angled toward each other and both have black hair, dark eyebrows, and full, coral-red lips. To our left, the woman faces our right in profile. She has a delicate nose and high cheekbones. Her eyes are painted with black lashes over black eyes, without the white of the eye. A gold disk earring hangs from the ear we can see, and she wears white and royal-blue beads in two necklaces. Her hair is combed or styled close to her head, and a swath of brick-red fabric, flecked with golden yellow, wraps around the back of her neck. A scarf with butter-yellow, denim-blue, and red stripes in a plaid pattern is draped across her shoulders, over a rose-pink garment. To our right, the man’s face is angled toward the woman but we see both eyes and the far cheek. His hair is closely cropped and he has a rounded nose, curving brows, and full cheeks. The shadows and folds of his white garment are painted with streaks of teal blue. The background behind the pair is patterned with bands and geometric designs of mustard yellow, scarlet red, and teal, with some stylized leaves in emerald and forest green. The artist signed the work in red paint in the lower right corner, “Lois M. Jones.”
Lois Mailou Jones, The Lovers (Somali Friends), 1950, casein on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase from the Estate of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr.), 2015.19.215

The Lovers (Somali Friends)

Lois Mailou Jones · 1950 · casein on canvas ·  Accession ID  2015.19.215

Lois Mailou Jones, Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Sr., 1943, pastel on pink laid paper, Corcoran Collection (The Evans-Tibbs Collection, Gift of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr.), 2015.19.3013

Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Sr.

Lois Mailou Jones · 1943 · pastel on pink laid paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.3013

From an elevated perspective, we look slightly down on a tan tepee and two shed-like structures on sandy ground overlooking a glistening sea in this almost square, loosely painted landscape. In the left third of the composition, the tall, pyramidal tepee has thin, dark brown horizontal stripes that divide the sides facing us into sections with blended bands of sage green, pale blue, pink, and mustard yellow. A window in the side of the tepee opens onto unidentifiable brown and cream-white shapes, perhaps objects on a table. One shed is near the tepee and the other is near the right edge of the canvas. Openings and awnings in both face each other. Two people inside the left-hand shed have brown skin, black hair, and wear pink or blue. Beyond the structures, the sandy ground gives way to grassy dunes painted with visible strokes of emerald and avocado green. A sailboat floats on the sparkling, topaz-blue water, which reaches back to the horizon. In the top fifth of the painting, the sun lights a bank of clouds to cream white and pale peach. The artist signed and dated the lower right corner, “Lois M. Jones '40.”
Lois Mailou Jones, Indian Shops, Gay Head, Massachusetts, 1940, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the artist), 2015.19.212

Indian Shops, Gay Head, Massachusetts

Lois Mailou Jones · 1940 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2015.19.212