Dec 15, 2015 - Sale 2402

Sale 2402 - Lot 30

Price Realized: $ 18,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 25,000
LOÏS MAILOU JONES (1905 - 1998)
7th Street Promenade.

Tempera on gessoed masonite board, circa 1940-45. 406x508 mm; 16x20 inches. Signed in tempera, lower right.

Provenance: the Lancaster County Art Association, Strasburg, PA (early 1950s).

This early painting by Lois Mailou Jones is a very scarce example of a Washington, DC subject by the artist. 7th Street was in the heart of the large African-American community in the U Street corridor and the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, DC. It was dubbed "Black Broadway" with its bustling scene and many famous theatres, including the Lincoln and Howard, during the 1920s and 1930s - entertainers like Sarah Vaughn, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, and the neighborhood's own Edward "Duke" Ellington all performed there. The Victorian neighborhood of Greater U Street is now a historic district.