Les Fétiches

Loïs Mailou Jones, Les Fétiches, 1938, oil on linen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Norvin H. Green, Dr. R. Harlan, and Francis Musgrave, 1990.56
Loïs Mailou Jones, Les Fétiches, 1938, oil on linen, 25 1221 14 in. (64.754.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Norvin H. Green, Dr. R. Harlan, and Francis Musgrave, 1990.56

Artwork Details

Title
Les Fétiches
Date
1938
Dimensions
25 1221 14 in. (64.754.0 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Norvin H. Green, Dr. R. Harlan, and Francis Musgrave
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on linen
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • Dress — costume — mask
Object Number
1990.56

Artwork Description

African masks dance and collide within the dark void of Loïs Mailou Jones's Les Fétiches. This painting marked a dramatic departure from the impressionist landscapes and still lifes of Jones's early career. Responding to those who criticized her change in style, Jones claimed this avant-garde approach as her birthright as a Black American, stating, "I had to remind them of Modigliani and Picasso and of all the French artists using the inspiration of Africa, and that if anybody had the right to use it, I had it, it was my heritage."
 

Works by this artist (1 item)

Angel Rodríguez-Díaz, The Protagonist of an Endless Story, 1993, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible in part by the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1996.19, © 1993, Angel Rodriguez-Diaz
The Protagonist of an Endless Story
Date1993
oil on canvas
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 1967.129 - SAAM-1967.129_1 - 65164
Artist to Artist
October 1, 2021August 2, 2026
Artist to Artist features paired artworks, each representing two figures whose trajectories intersected at a creatively crucial moment, whether as student and teacher, professional allies, or friends.

Related Posts

Side by side artworks. On the left: a painting with African mask references. On the right: a black sculpture, also with African mask references.
The lives of Loïs Mailou Jones and Elizabeth Catlett intersected briefly but formatively in the 1930s at Howard University
SAAM

More Artworks from the Collection

As Nantucket Harbor Looked in the Hey-Day
Dateca. 1959
watercolor, tempera, and pencil on paper
Not on view
William H. Johnson, Breakdown, ca. 1940-1941, tempera, pen and ink and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.1103
Breakdown
Dateca. 1940-1941
tempera, pen and ink and pencil on paper
Not on view
William Zorach, Untitled (mural study), ca. 1941-1943, oil, tempera and pencil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the collection of Tessim Zorach, 1968.154.87A
Untitled (mural study)
Dateca. 1941-1943
oil, tempera and pencil on plywood
Not on view
Unidentified, William H. Johnson, Female Nude Lying on Side, ca. 1939-1940, recto: tempera on paper
verso: pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.235R-V
Female Nude Lying on Side
Artist
Dateca. 1939-1940
recto: tempera on paper verso: pencil on paper
Not on view