Oral History Interview with Frederick D. Jones

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Oral History Interview with Frederick D. Jones Oral history interview with Frederick D. Jones Funding for the digital preservation of this interview was provided by a grant from the Save America's Treasures Program of the National Park Service. Archives of American Art 750 9th Street, NW Victor Building, Suite 2200 Washington, D.C. 20001 https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions https://www.aaa.si.edu/ Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 1 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 1 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 1 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 2 Container Listing ...................................................................................................... Oral history interview with Frederick D. Jones AAA.jones88 Collection Overview Repository: Archives of American Art Title: Oral history interview with Frederick D. Jones Identifier: AAA.jones88 Date: 1988 Nov. 8-10 Creator: Jones, Frederick D., 1913-1996 (Interviewee) Williams, Arlene E. (Interviewer) Extent: 2 Sound cassettes (Sound recording) 80 Pages (Transcript) Language: English . Digital Audio: Oral history interview with Frederick D. Jones, 1988 Nov. 8-10, Content: Digital Sound Recording (Excerpt) Administrative Information Acquisition Information This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and others. Biographical / Historical Frederick D. Jones (1913-1996) was a painter in Chicago, Ill. Scope and Contents An interview of Frederick D. Jones conducted 1988 Nov. 8-10, by Arlene E. Williams, for the Archives of American Art African-American Artists in Chicago oral history project (1988-1989). Scope and Contents Jones speaks of his early life and training, and of the influence of Hale Woodrufff, Louis Ritman, and Eldzier Cortor. He recalls his involvement with the South Side Community Art Center. He discusses some of his early exhibitions, the influences of African and European art, and changes in the art scene after World War II. He compares Chicago and New York art schools, and speaks about the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Finally, he discusses the civil rights movement and its relationship to the art of the times. Page 1 of 2 Oral history interview with Frederick D. Jones AAA.jones88 Names and Subject Terms This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Smithsonian Institution under the following terms: Subjects: African American artists Painters -- Illinois -- Interviews Types of Materials: Interviews Sound recordings Names: African American Artists in Chicago Oral History Project South Side Community Art Center Page 2 of 2.
Recommended publications
  • 'They Made Gullah': Modernist Primitivists and The
    “ ‘They Made Gullah’: Modernist Primitivists and the Discovery and Creation of Sapelo Island, Georgia’s Gullah Community, 1915-1991” By Melissa L. Cooper A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Dr. Mia Bay and approved by New Brunswick, New Jersey January 2012 2012 Melissa L. Cooper ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION “ ‘They Made Gullah’: Modernist Primitivists and the Discovery and Creation of Sapelo Island, Georgia’s Gullah Community, 1915-1991” by Melissa L. Cooper Dissertation Director: Dr. Mia Bay ABSTRACT: The history of Sapelo Islanders in published works reveals a complex cast of characters, each one working through ideas about racial distinction and inheritance; African culture and spirituality; and the legacy of slavery during the most turbulent years in America’s race-making history. Feuding social scientists, adventure seeking journalists, amateur folklorists, and other writers, initiated and shaped the perception of Sapelo Islanders’ distinct connection to Africa during the 1920s and 1930s, and labeled them “Gullah.” These researchers characterized the “Gullah,” as being uniquely connected to their African past, and as a population among whom African “survivals” were readily observable. This dissertation argues that the popular view of Sapelo Islanders’ “uniqueness” was the product of changing formulations about race and racial distinction in America. Consequently, the “discovery” of Sapelo Island’s Gullah folk was more a sign of times than an anthropological discovery. This dissertation interrogates the intellectual motives of the researchers and writers who have explored Sapelo Islanders in their works, and argues that the advent of American Modernism, the development of new social scientific theories and popular cultural works during the 1920s and 1930s, and other trends shaped their depictions.
    [Show full text]
  • A Finding Aid to the Eldzier Cortor Papers, Circa 1930S-2015, Bulk 1972-2015 in the Archives of American Art
    A Finding Aid to the Eldzier Cortor papers, circa 1930s-2015, bulk 1972-2015 in the Archives of American Art Justin Brancato and Rayna Andrews Funding for the 2017 processing of this collection was provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. 2017 December 28 Archives of American Art 750 9th Street, NW Victor Building, Suite 2200 Washington, D.C. 20001 https://www.aaa.si.edu/services/questions https://www.aaa.si.edu/ Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical Note............................................................................................................. 2 Scope and Content Note................................................................................................. 3 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 3 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 4 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 5 Series 1: Biographical Material, 1947-2012............................................................. 5 Series 2: Correspondence, 1970-2015.................................................................... 6 Series 3: Professional Files,
    [Show full text]
  • MFA Boston, Acquisition of Works from Axelrod Collection, Press Release, P
    MFA Boston, Acquisition of Works from Axelrod Collection, Press Release, p. 1 Contact: Karen Frascona 617.369.3442 [email protected] MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, ACQUIRES WORKS BY AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS FROM JOHN AXELROD COLLECTION MFA Marks One-Year Anniversary of Art of the Americas Wing with Display including Works by John Biggers, Eldzier Cortor, and Archibald Motley Jr. BOSTON, MA (November 3, 2011)—Sixty-seven works by African American artists have recently been acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), from collector John Axelrod, an MFA Honorary Overseer and long-time supporter of the Museum. The purchase has enhanced the MFA’s American holdings, transforming it into one of the leading repositories for paintings and sculpture by African American artists. The Museum’s collection will now include works by almost every major African American artist working during the past century and a half. Seven of the works are now displayed in the Art of the Cocktails, about 1926, Archibald Motley Americas Wing, in time for its one-year anniversary this month. This acquisition furthers the Museum’s commitment to showcasing the great multicultural artistry found throughout the Americas. It was made possible with the support of Axelrod and the MFA’s Frank B. Bemis Fund and Charles H. Bayley Fund. Axelrod has also donated his extensive research library of books about African American artists to the Museum, as well as funds to support scholarship. ―This is a proud moment for the MFA. When we opened the Art of the Americas Wing last year, our goal was to reflect the diverse interests and backgrounds of all of our visitors.
    [Show full text]
  • View Exhibition Brochure
    1 Renée Cox (Jamaica, 1960; lives & works in New York) “Redcoat,” from Queen Nanny of the Maroons series, 2004 Color digital inket print on watercolor paper, AP 1, 76 x 44 in. (193 x 111.8 cm) Courtesy of the artist Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, organized This exhibition is organized into six themes by El Museo del Barrio in collaboration with the that consider the objects from various cultural, Queens Museum of Art and The Studio Museum in geographic, historical and visual standpoints: Harlem, explores the complexity of the Caribbean Shades of History, Land of the Outlaw, Patriot region, from the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) to Acts, Counterpoints, Kingdoms of this World and the present. The culmination of nearly a decade Fluid Motions. of collaborative research and scholarship, this exhibition gathers objects that highlight more than At The Studio Museum in Harlem, Shades of two hundred years of history, art and visual culture History explores how artists have perceived from the Caribbean basin and its diaspora. the significance of race and its relevance to the social development, history and culture of the Caribbean: Crossroads engages the rich history of Caribbean, beginning with the pivotal Haitian the Caribbean and its transatlantic cultures. The Revolution. Land of the Outlaw features works broad range of themes examined in this multi- of art that examine dual perceptions of the venue project draws attention to diverse views Caribbean—as both a utopic place of pleasure and of the contemporary Caribbean, and sheds new a land of lawlessness—and investigate historical light on the encounters and exchanges among and contemporary interpretations of the “outlaw.” the countries and territories comprising the New World.
    [Show full text]
  • The South Side & Beyond
    THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF THE VISUAL ARTS Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York Volume 32 No. 6 July/August 2018 Established 1973 The South Side & Beyond: A Chicago Art Legacy INSIDE Patric McCoy, Pioneering South Side Art Collector Seven Reviews Cover Shows of African-American Artists Cleveland Prepares to Host International Art Triennial $8 U.S. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists-Sponsored Show Features Martyl and (art)n SUBSCRIPTIONS NEW ART EXAMINER IS AVAILABLE FROM THE FOLLOWING CHICAGO OUTLETS: The New Art Examiner has a long history of pro- ducing quality and independent art criticism. 57th Street Books Subscription rates include six issues, print and digi- 1301 E 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637 tal version sent by email. (773) 684-1300 USA/Canada $55 postage incl. ARC Gallery Rest of World $80 postage incl. 2156 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60647 (773) 252-2232 Please send checks, along with your name and Corbett vs Dempsey Gallery address, made payable to: 1120 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60622 New Art Examiner (773) 278-1664 5542 N. Paulina St. Chicago, IL 60640. USA. Fahlstrtom’s Fresh Fish Market 1258 W Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL 60657 (773) 281-6000 ADVERTISING RATES 2018 Firecat Projects 2124 N Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60647 FULL PAGE Inside front cover $500 (773) 342-5381 Inside back cover $400 Hilton | Asmus Contemporary FULL PAGE $300 716 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60654 HALF PAGE – portrait/landscape $200 (312) 475-1788 QUARTER PAGE – (editorial page) $125 Jackson and Junge Gallery (add $25 for inclusion on web site) 1339 N.
    [Show full text]
  • Haitian Contemporary Art in Transit a Dissertation
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles “No Word for ‘Art’ in Kreyòl”: Haitian Contemporary Art in Transit A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Culture and Performance by Peter Lockwood Haffner 2017 © Copyright by Peter Lockwood Haffner 2017 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION No Word for ‘Art’ in Kreyòl”: Haitian Contemporary Art in Transit by Peter Lockwood Haffner Doctor of Philosophy in Culture and Performance University of California, Los Angeles, 2017 Professor Allen Fraleigh Roberts, Co-Chair Professor Mary Nooter Roberts, Co-Chair The dissertation that follows is an inter-disciplinary study of the ways in which a range of individuals with varying stakes and motivations have constructed a category called “Haitian Art” during a period beginning prior to World War II and extending to the present day. Haitian Art, like any cultural product ascribed to a group of people, is a taxonomic construction that subsumes a diverse and complex set of artistic and cultural practices under a limited and often questionable rubric. Over decades, international connections between Haiti and the US have consistently influenced and directed visual arts production in Haiti. Historically, tourism has played an outsized role in facilitating these cross-cultural contacts and exchanges between Haitian artists and expatriate visitors to Haiti. More recently, “traditional” forms of tourism have given way to visitors who travel to Haiti, not for purposes of leisure, but in response to the myriad crises that have afflicted the country. For this thesis, I argue that movements of people, ideas, and art objects have contributed to narratives of “Haiti” that have circulated throughout the United States vis-à-vis the production, acquisition, and exhibition of works made by Haitian ii artists.
    [Show full text]
  • Feminist Studies > Reclaiming Histories: Betye and Alison Saar, Feminism, and the Representation of Black Womanhood
    Reclaiming Histories: Betye and Alison Saar, Feminism, and the Representation of Black Womanhood Jessica Dallow The feminist movement has given me more professional exposure. But I resist that now, just like I resist exhibiting in African Amer- ican artists' shows. I've always worked the same way, and haven't done anything I would consider "feminist art." –Betye Saar Yes, I am a feminist. I was involved with the Women's Space [Womanspace] here in Los Angeles. Feminism for me implies more like humanism, just accepting yourself and knowing that it's okay to be the way you are. For me the ultimate goal is to be a whole person and to accept the outcome. –Betye Saar People aren't really ready to deal with fierce female passion. –Alison Saar Betye Saar considers herself a feminist; however she resists designating her artwork as such. Similarly, Alison Saar, Betye's daughter, avoids labeling her own art as feminist.1 Yet, both artists have helped to shape a feminist consciousness in the arts since the early 1970s through their probing constructions of autobiography, self-identity, family, and the fe- male body: a consciousness circulating around the historical develop- ment of the African American female nude. Betye's early ideas of spiritu- ality and ethnicity, shaped in the early 1970s, have germinated within her daughter, evidenced by Alison's bust- and full-length nude, non- white female figures of the 1980s and 1990s. The Saars' intergenera- tional explorations of race, history, and the black female body represent a crucial step to reclaim the contentious history surrounding the visual representation of African American women.
    [Show full text]
  • VMFA – Collections – Acquistions Dec 2017
    COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS 200 N. Boulevard I Richmond, Virginia 23220 www.vmfa.museum/pressroom FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FEBRUARY 23, 2018 VMFA Acquires Three Major Works of African American Art Acquisitions further VMFA goal of becoming a leader in the field Richmond, Virginia – The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) recently added three major works of African American art to its collection: David Drake’s Two-Handled Jug, Archibald Motley Jr.’s Town of Hope and Sanford Biggers’ Overstood. These acquisitions add to VMFA’s growing collection of African American art, a major focus of the museum’s acquisition strategy since 2015 as part of its five-year strategic plan. “The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is committed to establishing a leadership role in the collecting and display of African American art,” said Alex Nyerges, VMFA director. “These three works are a significant step toward that goal and represent three distinct periods in African American history as well as important works of art that will delight and inspire our visitors for generations to come.” These recent acquisitions join Romare Bearden’s landmark 1967 collage Three Folk Musicians, added to VMFA’s collections last year, and are among a total of 52 new works recently approved for acquisition by the VMFA’s Board of Trustees. David Drake, Two-Handled Jug Inscribed “January 29th 1840”, this rare ceramic jug is believed to be the earliest signed and dated poem piece produced by the enslaved Edgefield, South Carolina, artisan David Drake, popularly known as “Dave the Potter.” The jar stands 18 inches tall with two top handles, a form designed to store and pour molasses and other staples.
    [Show full text]
  • Seeing Eldzier Cortor
    LIESL OLSON Seeing Eldzier Cortor Eldzier Cortor died on Thanksgiving Day, 2015, about seven months after I interviewed him. He was ninety-nine years old. According to his son Michael, Cortor worked as an artist up until the day he died. The New York Times ran a generous obituary of Cortor, which included a photograph of him, sitting upright and bow-tied, taken by the photojournalist Gordon Parks in 1949. This photograph presented Cortor just after winning a Guggenheim fellowship, which would take him to Cuba, Jamaica, and Haiti. The Times also ran a front-page story titled “Black Artists and the March into the Museum, ” in which Cortor was featured, and which included several short video-interviews with black artists.1 An assessment of black art in the twentieth-century art market, the Times piece underscored a bittersweet irony in the age of modernist formalism during which Cortor and other artists developed their careers. If a black artist chose to work in a figurative mode, then his or her work was likely to be pigeonholed by the white establishment as expressive of the “black experience. ” But if he or she chose to work in abstraction, then this work did not fit the category of “black art ” as conceived by the country’ s leading museums. Has the art world caught up with the idea that modernism was many things? Cortor—whose range of work is difficult to classify— remained skeptical. In one of the videos that accompanied the Times piece, the interviewer suggests that Cortor is now finally getting “an immense amount of recognition.
    [Show full text]
  • A Turning Point in American Negro Art?
    THE BLACK REVOLUTION: A TURNING POINT IN AMERICAN NEGRO ART? APPROVED: Major Professor ^ Minor Professor Chairmainn O-f the Department of Ai Dean o THE BLACK REVOLUTION: A TURNING POINT IN AMERICAN NEGRO ART? THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OP' ARTS By Patricia J„ Silvey, B.A. Denton, Texas August, 1971 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES iv LIST OF FIGURES V Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. THE IMAGE OF THE NEGRO 7 Introduction The Negro in Africa West Africa Interior Africa African Philosophy Negro Image in America Under Slavory Phantom of Slavery Negro Image After Emancipation Until 1960 Negroes in the North and in the South Barriers of Race III. THE IMAGE OF TI1L NEGRO IN ART ......... 38 Introduction Transition History IV. THE IMAGE OF THE NEGRO IN THE BLACK REVOLUTION ................. 72 The Events Leading to Black Revolution Civil Rights Movement Black Power and the Black Revolution • V. CONCLUSIONS . 96 APPENDICES . ' 101 ,LT.*11OI^i .»J.x « . ** •* * . « » . « . m „ , m ^ M ,^20 1X1 LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Classification of Artists Exhibiting in A f r o - Aiuq r i c a n Artists: New York and Boston by Hilton Kramer 88 II. Artists Associated Directly with the Black Revolution 92 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 • Benj am in. Franklin Yoe and Son Joshua Johnston Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, N. C 46 2• Romantic Landscape Robert Duncanson Henry M. Fuller Collection, New York . 48 3• Approaching Storm Edward M.
    [Show full text]
  • Highlights of the Season
    HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEASON Swann is very pleased to announce our outstanding line up of auctions for Autumn 2012—with 15 sales in just four months. The season begins with our first Fine & Vintage Writing Instruments auction and continues with scarce, sought-after prints; significant historical documents and photographs; collectible books and manuscripts; dazzling posters and exceptional examples of African-American Fine Art. Among the notable private collections offered this fall are the most extensive selection of Aldine Imprints to appear at auction in nearly two decades; one of the largest collections of European and Western printed Japan-related maps in private hands; and a remarkable collection of movie posters dedicated to images of monsters with maidens caught in their clutches. Beyond our salesrooms, several of our officers will lend their auctioneering talents to worthy causes. Todd Weyman will officiate Eat, Bark, Bid on September 22 to raise money for animal rescue group Lulu’s Rescue; Daile Kaplan will be the auctioneer at the Aperture Foundation 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner & Photography Auction on October 23; George Lowry will help raise money for Search and Care, a charity that assists elders living at home on November 1; and Nicholas Lowry, always in demand, will wield the gavel for SHARE (Self-Help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer) on September 24, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans on October 13, City Harvest’s Bid Against Hunger on October 16, and several other high-profile fundraisers. THE TRUMPET • FALL / WINTER 2012 • VOLUME 27, NUMBER 1 FINE & VINTAGE WRITING INSTRUMENTS SEPTEMBER 13 Top: Pelikan #111, Toledo.
    [Show full text]
  • Pomegranate Is Publishing 2018 Calendar Devoted to Paintings By
    Welcome to Culture Type! ABOUT SEARCH An exploration of black art through vintage and BOOKSHELF contemporary books, magazines and catalogs, Culture Type shares invaluable interestingness culled from the CONTACT published record on black art. BOOKS & CATALOGS MAGAZINES EXHIBITIONS AUCTIONS BEST ART BOOKS YEAR IN BLACK ART NEWS CULTURE T CONNECT SUBSCRIBE by VICTORIA L. VALENTINE on Mar 10, 2017 • 11:49 am 1 Comment Get Culture Type in your inbox. Submit your em address to be notified of new posts. Like 46 Tweet RECENTLY PUBLISHED Washington Renaissance: 8 Distinguished Artists Reflect and Connect in Wide-Ranging Discussi of African American Art in 20th Century Washington Apr 12, 2017 Lorna Simpson Joins Hauser & Wi New York Gallery Represents the Conceptual Artist and Photograph Worldwide Apr 4, 2017 Scurlock Photography Studio: Fath and Sons Documented Black Washington for Much of 20th Cen Apr 3, 2017 http://www.culturetype.com/2017/03/10/pomegranate-published-at-2018-calendar-devoted-to-paintings-by-eldzier-cortor-more-products-featuring-afr... Art Capital: Nearly 500 Gather at National Gallery of Art to Discuss African American Art in 20th Cent Washington Eldzier Cortor’s “Classical Study No. 39,” 1979 (oil on canvas) is featured on the cover of Pomegranate’s 2018 Apr 2, 2017 calendar. Auction Results: New Records Set Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Henry Ta KATIE BURKE WAS VISITING Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in New York when she saw a major painting by Eldzier and Alma Thomas, Compelling Wo by El Anatsui Among Many Others Cortor (1916–2015) and it sparked an idea. The publisher of Pomegranate Communications, Burke was very Black Artists Sold Too familiar with Cortor.
    [Show full text]