Lois Mailou Jones
United States, 1905–1998

Lois Mailou (mih-loo) Jones was a prominent African American painter whose career
spanned more than seven decades and whose works range from Impressionist to
political. She began painting as a child, creating watercolor landscapes during
vacations on Martha’s Vineyard. She was married to Haitian artist Louis Vergniaud
Pierre-Noel. Much of her work is influenced by her travels in Haiti, as well as her
studies in other parts of the world, including 11 countries in Africa.

Her art spanned the globe from street scenes of Montmartre and the River Seine in
Paris to portraits of society life in Haiti. Jones was an art professor for 47 years at
Howard University in Washington, D.C. She also trained some of Washington’s
leading African American artists, including David Driskell, Martha Jackson-Jarvis, and
Malkia Roberts.