
Artwork Details
- Title
- Les Fétiches
- Artist
- Date
- 1938
- Location
- Dimensions
- 25 1⁄2 x 21 1⁄4 in. (64.7 x 54.0 cm)
- Markings
- lower right: Lois M./Jones/-Paris '38 backing upper left in red ink: LOIS MAILOU JONES/LES FETICHES (underlined)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Norvin H. Green, Dr. R. Harlan, and Francis Musgrave
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on linen
- Classifications
- Keywords
- Group
- Figure group
- Dress — costume — mask
- Object Number
- 1990.56
Artwork Description
Jones spent many summers in France, where she enjoyed the same artistic and intellectual freedom as her peers. When her Paris teachers questioned the African themes in her paintings, Jones answered readily: if masters like Matisse and Picasso could use them, she said, "don't you think I should?" Jones taught at Howard University for many years thereafter, encouraging her students to travel to Africa to understand its art. The multiple masks and vivid red fetish figure suggest the artist's effort to draw strength and protection from her cultural heritage in the face of prejudice.
Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006