Loïs Mailou Jones
Untitled (Two Women)
1939-1949
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Loïs Mailou Jones
Untitled (Two Women)
1939-1949
Physical Qualities
Oil on linen, Framed: 22 1/4 x 27 1/8 x 2 1/4 in. (56.5 x 68.9 x 5.7 cm) Sight: 15 1/2 x 20 3/8 in. (39.4 x 51.8 cm)
Credit Line
Purchase with exchange funds from the Pearlstone Family Fund and partial gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
Object Number
2020.98
In this bold bust-length portrait, two women gaze directly at the viewer. Loïs Mailou Jones was a painter, textile designer, and collage artist. She taught at Howard University in Washington, D.C.—influencing generations of artists including Elizabeth Catlett, Alma Thomas, and David Driskell—while painting in France during her summers. The textile or wallpaper here resembles the pattern featured in Henri Matisse’s 1928 Seated Odalisque, Left Knee Bent, Ornamental Background and Checkerboard, also in the BMA’s collection.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 2020; Michael Rosenfeld Gallery by purchase, March 7, 2006; Swann Galleries Auction, New York, NY (Lot 82); Private Collection; Lois Mailou Jones, Washington, DC.
"Loïs Mailou Jones: A Life in Vibrant Color," Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC, November 14, 2009 - February 27, 2010; Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, FL, July 3 - September 26, 2010; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, October 9, 2010 - January 9, 2011; Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN, January 29 - April 24, 2011; The Women’s Museum: An Institute for the Future, Dallas, TX, May 21, 2011 - July 23, 2011; Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS, August 27 - November 6, 2011; Mitchell Gallery, St. Johns College, Annapolis, MD, January 12 - February 23, 2012; Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL, March 17, 2012 - June 17, 2012; California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA, July 12 - September 16, 2012; The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, Jacksonville, FL, October 6, 2012 - January 4, 2013; Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL, February 3, 2013 - March 31, 2013; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York, NY, April 19, 2013 - June 30, 2013
Hanzal, Carla M. "Loïs Mailou Jones: A Life in Vibrant Color," Mint Museum of Art, (Charlotte, NC, November 14, 2009 - February 27, 2010) Illustrated in color in the exhibition catalogue on page 114
"Impact! The Legacy of the Women’s Caucus for Art," The Katzen Arts Center, American University Museum, College of Arts & Sciences, Washington, DC, January 23 - March 13, 2016. Illustrated in color in the exhibition catalogue on page 36
On View at the BMA