Between the Covers

Unbound. Original pen and ink drawing for a rare 1942 calendar celebrating African-American women which was titled "Twelve American Women." Portrait is approximately 12.5" x 20.5"; framed 20." x 27.5". Signed and additionally titled in her hand by Jones, and with nine lines of handwritten text about the modest accomplishments of Lescot (mostly about her social graces when her husband was ambassador in Washington), and she has drawn an additional Haitian symbol incorporating "L'Union fait la Force" on both sides, written beneath the drawing "Pen and ink drawing." Between the two symbols is the only printed element, a small calendar for September. Madame Lescot was the second wife of Elie Lescot. His regime was made up largely of light-skinned Haitians. They went into exile in 1946 when they were replaced by a military junta. The accomplishments of Lois Mailou Jones were considerably more plentiful than those of Madame Lescot, she was one of the most influential female African-American artist of the 20th Century, beginning in the late Harlem Renaissance when she exhibited at the Harmon Foundation. She married the Haitian artist Louis Vergniaud Pierre-Noel, and split her time between Haiti, New York, and Paris. Unlike her watercolors which tend to be impressionistic landscapes, this is a precise and detailed portrait of an African-American woman.

Item #399904