MITCHELLVILLE, Md., Feb. 23, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Chris Chapman tells the story of an extraordinary woman and her ninety-two years as an artist and African American woman. Discover her personal view of the prejudice toward African Americans in the book Lois Mailou Jones: A Life in Color.
Lois Mailou Jones wanted Chris to tell her story and she shared documents and stories of her long and fascinating life. From her early artistic training, when a scholarship required that she clean the studio, through the excitement of the Harlem Renaissance, in the Jim Crow years when African Americans could not enter art work in public exhibitions, and the march towards equality, Lois worked with many African American pioneers, including Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Carter G. Woodson, Arthur Schomburg, Alain Locke, Langston Hughes, Josephine Baker, Mary McLeod Bethune, Katherine Dunham and more. By the end of her life, she knew presidents and first ladies including Rosalynn Carter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Barbara Bush and the Clintons. Her international fans included the presidents of Haiti, Senegal and France. Lois fought against discrimination throughout her life to finally win the only recognition she wanted, as an artist. Today, her work is owned by museums and collectors all over the world.
This biography is a fascinating read filled with Lois Mailou Jones' impressive artwork and information on other African Americans who were pioneers in their fields. It gives us a personal view of the twentieth century changes in education, politics, international relations and race relations. Lois persevered to achieve her goals despite the prejudice she fought all her life. She continued to grow as an artist and her style changed according to her life experiences, particularly to travels in Haiti and Africa. Readers will find this an inspiring story of a woman's struggle for recognition. Researchers will find many previously unpublished works and letters.
About the Author
Dr. Chris Chapman is the founder and chairman of Chapman Pharmaceutical Consulting and Chapman Pharmaceutical Health Foundation. He graduated from Georgetown School of Medicine in 1987 and completed a medical internship and anesthesiology fellowship in 1991. In 1987 his godmother introduced him to Lois Mailou Jones and Chris became her most trusted advisor and travel companion. For ten years, especially during the annual drive to Martha's Vineyard from Washington, D.C., she told him stories about the many changes she had seen, such as the long overdue recognition of her life-long friend, North Pole explorer, Matthew Henson. She introduced him to other friends, including writer and fellow Harlem Renaissance icon Dorothy West and actor Danny Glover. Chris helped her through several medical crises. He is uniquely qualified to tell Lois' fascinating story.
Lois Mailou Jones by Chris Chapman
A life in color
Trade Paperback; $42.99; 136 pages; 1-4257-1729-2; 978-1-4257-1729-2
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