Provenance

Estate of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr.

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Shown from the shoulders up, a woman and man, both with brown skin, look at each other in this horizontal portrait painting. Their bodies are angled toward each other and both have black hair, dark eyebrows, and full, coral-red lips. To our left, the woman faces our right in profile. She has a delicate nose and high cheekbones. Her eyes are painted with black lashes over black eyes, without the white of the eye. A gold disk earring hangs from the ear we can see, and she wears white and royal-blue beads in two necklaces. Her hair is combed or styled close to her head, and a swath of brick-red fabric, flecked with golden yellow, wraps around the back of her neck. A scarf with butter-yellow, denim-blue, and red stripes in a plaid pattern is draped across her shoulders, over a rose-pink garment. To our right, the man’s face is angled toward the woman but we see both eyes and the far cheek. His hair is closely cropped and he has a rounded nose, curving brows, and full cheeks. The shadows and folds of his white garment are painted with streaks of teal blue. The background behind the pair is patterned with bands and geometric designs of mustard yellow, scarlet red, and teal, with some stylized leaves in emerald and forest green. The artist signed the work in red paint in the lower right corner, “Lois M. Jones.”
Lois Mailou Jones, The Lovers (Somali Friends), 1950, casein on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase from the Estate of Thurlow Evans Tibbs, Jr.), 2015.19.215

The Lovers (Somali Friends)

Lois Mailou Jones · 1950 · casein on canvas ·  Accession ID  2015.19.215

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Untitled

Radcliffe Bailey · 1997 · collage with acrylic and organic material on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.3150