Initiation, Liberia

Loïs Mailou Jones, Initiation, Liberia, 1983, acrylic on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 2006.24.7
Loïs Mailou Jones, Initiation, Liberia, 1983, acrylic on canvas, 35 1423 14 in. (89.659.1 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of the artist, 2006.24.7

Artwork Details

Title
Initiation, Liberia
Date
1983
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
35 1423 14 in. (89.659.1 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of the artist
Mediums
Mediums Description
acrylic on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Allegory — life — womanhood
  • African
  • Figure female — head
Object Number
2006.24.7

Artwork Description

Jones was especially sensitive to the rights and roles of women. For many years she felt forced to ship rather than deliver her work in person to exhibitions so museums would not reject them because they had been done by a black female artist. In Initiation, Liberia, she interpreted the Sande society initiation ritual. The swath of white paint across the young woman’s eyes indicates her role as an initiate. The mask partly obscures her distinctive personality but combined with the receding profiles at the left of her head, suggests continuity over generations that is implied by the ritual ceremony.


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

Works by this artist (10 items)

Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Hip Hop, 1993, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.7, © 1993, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Hip Hop
Date1993
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Looking Out, 1991, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.6, © 1991, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Looking Out
Date1991
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Street Champion, 1986, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.5, © 1986, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
Street Champion
Date1986
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Earlie Hudnall, Jr., The Guardian, 1990, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1994.23.4, © 1990, Earlie Hudnall, Jr.
The Guardian
Date1990
gelatin silver print
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Bently
Dateca. 1975
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Lure of the Sea
Dateca. 1975
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.9
Untitled
Dateca. 1945-1950
gelatin silver print
Not on view