“Les Fétiches” (1938)

“Les Fétiches” (1938)

AP African American Studies Guide

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Topic 4.1

Loïs Mailou Jones, Les Fétiches (1938)

A dark abstract painting of a mask with horns


A painting by Loïs Mailou Jones, Les Fétiches, 1938, oil on linen, 25 1/2 x 21 1/4 in. (64.7 x 54.0 cm) (Smithsonian American Art Museum. Museum purchase made possible by Mrs. Norvin H. Green, Dr. R. Harlan, and Francis Musgrave.)

Discussion Questions

  1. What messages do you think the artist was trying to send by titling the piece “Les Fétiches”?
  2. How is colonization alluded to in this piece of art? What does Les Fétiches say about colonization?
  3. Loïs Mailou Jones was an African American artist, but she made this piece while living in Paris. How could you find out why she moved to Paris, and how this informed her artistic practices?