Object Details
- Artist
- Loïs Mailou Jones, 3 Nov 1905 - 9 Jun 1998
- Sitter
- Lillian Evanti, 1890 - 1967
- Exhibition Label
- Born Washington, D.C.
- Lillian Evans Tibbs recalled that she once dreamed of “crossing the ocean and finding in some other land opportunities which the color barrier made impossible here in the United States.” In 1924, the aspiring opera diva took that chance, leaving her husband and son behind and journeying alone to Paris. Under the stage name Madame Evanti, she became the first African American to perform with the grand opera companies of Europe. She mastered twenty-three operas and two hundred songs in five languages.
- In the summer of 1939, Evanti met Loïs Mailou Jones, who shared her nostalgia for Paris. Their frequent meetings, Jones recalled, “recreated for me some of the heady artistic ambiance I had enjoyed in Paris.” In 1940, Jones painted Evanti in her costume from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. The vibrant colors and exuberant patterns convey the happiness the women associated with Paris and relived through their friendship.
- Nacida en Washington D.C.
- Lillian Evans Tibbs recordaba haber soñado que “cruzaba el océano y encontraba en otras tierras oportunidades que la barrera racial le negaba en Estados Unidos”. En 1924, la incipiente diva operística quiso probar suerte y dejó atrás a su esposo y su hijo para irse sola a París. Con el nombre artístico de Madame Evanti, fue la primera afroamericana que actuó con las grandes compañías de ópera europeas. Podía cantar con soltura 23 óperas y 200 canciones en cinco idiomas.
- En el verano de 1939, Evanti conoció a Loïs Mailou Jones, quien compartía su nostalgia por París. Sus reuniones frecuentes, dijo Jones, “me recordaban el embriagador ambiente artístico que había disfrutado en París”. En 1940, Jones pintó a Evanti con su atuendo de la ópera El barbero de Sevilla, de Rossini. Los colores vívidos y los estampados exuberantes comunican la felicidad que ambas mujeres asociaban con París y que revivían gracias a su amistad.
- Provenance
- Max Robinson, Chicago; gift 1982 NPG
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Max Robinson
- 1940
- Object number
- NPG.82.56
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © The Loïs Mailou Jones Pierre-Noël Trust
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Accurate: 106.6 x 81.3cm (41 15/16 x 32")
- Frame: 124.6 × 99.5 × 7.6 cm (49 1/16 × 39 3/16 × 3")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Costume\Headgear\Headdress
- Costume\Jewelry\Earring
- Interior\Interior with Exterior View
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Fan
- Lillian Evanti: Female
- Lillian Evanti: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Music\Musician\Songwriter
- Lillian Evanti: Arts and Culture\Performing Arts\Music\Musician\Singer\Opera singer
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.82.56
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm475072134-e17f-4887-b568-454e74fa66c9
