Actor
Lois Mailou Jones,African American (1905-1998),Dans un Café à Paris (Leigh Whipper (actor),1939,oil on canvas.
Lois Mailou Jones painted Leigh Whipper at the height of his career as a Broadway and Hollywood actor.Whipper would soon be famous for his role as Crooks in the 1939 film adaptation of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men.".His character-a stable hand ostracized because if his race-served to illuminate the movie's Depression-era message that the American Dreams of economic and social success was impossible.
The artist's portrayal of a pensive Whipper answered Alain Locke's call for black artists to create ennobling representations of African Americans.Locke was an intellectual during the Harlem Renaissance,a movement in the 1920s and 1930s that resulted in a blossoming of African American culture.
Lois Mailou Jones was an influential artist and teacher during her seven-decade career.Jones was one of the most notable figures to attain notoriety for her art while living as a black expatriate in Paris during the 1930s and 1940s.Her career began in textile design before she decided to focus on fine arts.Jones looked towards Africa and the Caribbean and her experiences in life when painting.As a result,her subjects were some of the first paintings by an African-American artist to extend beyond the realm of portraiture. Jones was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance movement and her countless international trips.Lois Mailou Jones's career was enduring and complex.Her work in designs,paintings,illustrations,and academia made her an exceptional artist that continues to receive national attention and research.
Actor
Lois Mailou Jones,African American (1905-1998),Dans un Café à Paris (Leigh Whipper (actor),1939,oil on canvas.
Lois Mailou Jones painted Leigh Whipper at the height of his career as a Broadway and Hollywood actor.Whipper would soon be famous for his role as Crooks in the 1939 film adaptation of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men.".His character-a stable hand ostracized because if his race-served to illuminate the movie's Depression-era message that the American Dreams of economic and social success was impossible.
The artist's portrayal of a pensive Whipper answered Alain Locke's call for black artists to create ennobling representations of African Americans.Locke was an intellectual during the Harlem Renaissance,a movement in the 1920s and 1930s that resulted in a blossoming of African American culture.
Lois Mailou Jones was an influential artist and teacher during her seven-decade career.Jones was one of the most notable figures to attain notoriety for her art while living as a black expatriate in Paris during the 1930s and 1940s.Her career began in textile design before she decided to focus on fine arts.Jones looked towards Africa and the Caribbean and her experiences in life when painting.As a result,her subjects were some of the first paintings by an African-American artist to extend beyond the realm of portraiture. Jones was influenced by the Harlem Renaissance movement and her countless international trips.Lois Mailou Jones's career was enduring and complex.Her work in designs,paintings,illustrations,and academia made her an exceptional artist that continues to receive national attention and research.