Swann Galleries - African-American Fine Art, Sale 2409

●

LOÏS MAILOU JONES (1905 - 1998)

Homage to Martin Luther King

Watercolor on illustration board, 1968. 775x565 mm; 30

x22

inches. Signed and dated in

watercolor, lower right recto. Signed, titled and inscribed with the artist’s Washington, DC address

in ink, center verso. Also signed and dedicated in ink on a fragment of backing paper, mounted to

the frame back.

Provenance: acquired directly from the artist; private collection, NewYork (1992).

Exhibited:

Reflections of King

, National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN, February - March,

1993;

In the Spirit of Martin: the Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King

, Smithsonian Institution

Traveling Exhibition Service, January 12, 2002 - March 30, 2004, with the label on the frame back,

including the Charles H.Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI, Bass Museum

of Art, Miami Beach, FL, Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN, International

Gallery, Smithsonian Institution,Washington, DC, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis,TN,

and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery,AL;

Lois Mailou Jones, 58Years ofWatercolors,

1930-1988

, Brody’s Gallery,Washington, DC, October, 1998, with the label on the frame back; the

National Museum of Women in the Arts,Washington, DC, 1992 - 2015.

Illustrated: Sorin, Gretchen and Helen M. Shannon,

In the Spirit of Martin: the Living Legacy of Martin

Luther King, Jr.

, p. 158;

Jubilee! AYear of African-American Celebration / 2003

, Smithsonian Anacostia

Museum and Center for African American History and Culture calendar, 2003.

This important artwork of the Civil Rights period was Loïs Mailou Jones’ direct response to the

assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jones’ multi-faceted tribute to the life of Dr. King is depicted

in many watercolor panels.This stirring visual representation of his legacy has been widely exhibited

nationally and on loan for the past 20 years to the National Museum of Women in the Arts,

Washington, DC. In the

BlackWomens’ Oral History Project

, Loïs Mailou Jones herself described this

artwork as “one of the works which is considered outstanding as a result of using the black

experience as an influence.”

[20,000/30,000]