Moon Masque

Media - 2006.24.5 - SAAM-2006.24.5_1 - 67164
Copied Loïs Mailou Jones, Moon Masque, 1971, oil and collage on canvas, 41 x 30 1⁄8 in. (104.1 x 76.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 2006.24.5

Artwork Details

Title
Moon Masque
Artist
Date
1971
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
41 x 30 1⁄8 in. (104.1 x 76.4 cm)
Markings
signed and dated in black paint, lower right center: Lois M. Jones '71
Credit Line
Bequest of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil and collage on canvas
Classifications
Highlights
Keywords
  • Nonrepresentational
  • Abstract
  • Landscape — celestial — moon
  • African
  • Dress — costume — mask
Object Number
2006.24.5
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2006.24.5

Artwork Description

At the center of Moon Masque is a papier-mâché replica of a heart-shaped white Kwele mask from Zaire surrounded by masklike profiles and designs drawn from Ethiopian textiles. Though stylized, the faces resemble actual individuals whose profiles are juxtaposed with tears falling from the eyes of the mask. It is tempting to speculate that the mask, representing heritage and tradition, weeps for the situation of contemporary African peoples.


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012

Exhibitions

Media - 1995.22.1 - SAAM-1995.22.1_1 - 65784
African American Art in the 20th Century
January 18, 2019–January 18, 2019
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum is home to one of the most significant collections of African American art in the world.