Frederick D. Jones (1913-1996) was a prolific, Chicago artist whose career spanned more than five decades. During his formative years, when a gritty, urban, social realism dominated the work of African American artists, Jones developed a dreamy, romantic style of fantasy. His artwork was exhibited and marketed across the country and was widely collected. However, like many talented African American artists of his generation, he received little recognition in the mainstream art world and his death went largely unnoticed.
Fortunately, a significant documentation of Jones’ career occurred in 1988 when the Smithsonian Institution selected him for interview in an oral history program that collected information on significant, overlooked black artists. Much of the information in this article was drawn from that 85 page record now in the archives of the National Museum of American art.
