Lawrence Arthur Jones (American, 1910-1996)
Lawrence Arthur Jones
American, 1910-1996
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Lawrence Arthur Jones was an American artist and printmaker. Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Jones spent most of his career as an art teacher in Louisiana, Georgia, and Mississippi. He was a contemporary of the prominent black artists Charles White and Eldzier Cortor. Jones's most notable accomplishment is his establishment of a fine arts program at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
Though Jones is best known as an arts educator, his work is present in a number of important institutions and museums. Many of his murals on campuses throughout the South still remain. His oeuvre features prints, paintings, and murals that tend to focus on the history of African-Americans in the United States. His figurative artwork often depicts the oppression of black people across various time periods and geographic contexts. Jones portrayed slavery in the South and urban poverty in the North in many paintings, murals, and prints.