Lois Mailou Jones Symbolism

People always had a strong fascination with ancient Egypt for the great pyramids, the kings and queens, hieroglyphs and their advance knowledge. Many artists had appropriated ancient Egypt within there work; you can find it in many artwork, pop culture and literature. As example, Cleopatra 1963 Hollywood movie, Dark horse by katy Parry and many more. One of the artwork what grabbed my attention was a piece done during the Harlem Renaissance what displayed a lot of Ancient Egyptian symbolism in the artwork.
The Ascent of Ethiopia (1932) by Lois Mailou Jones. It is an oil painting on canvas. Lois Mailou Jones is a female African-American artist in the Harlem Renaissance. The artist created this painting to show the struggles that

African-Americans had to go through. African-Americans lived in a negative society. The Ascent of Ethiopia was made to make African-American more aware of their heritage. The Ascent of Ethiopia symbolizes the pride of the African community and their achievements.
The Ascent of Ethiopia reflects her African heritage root. It demonstrates the influences of ancient Egyptian. The artwork talks about the journey of the African-Americans, starting with ancient Egypt and ending with the Harlem Renaissance. You can see the influences of African history and culture. In the bottom right of this painting it is portraying an African woman wearing a faro headdress and having the signature black eyeliner. This shows us she knows her heritage and is not afraid to explore it. The portrait of the African woman is in the foreground, giving the viewer the impression that he is reviewing the scene. The dark figures that are next to the portrait of the African woman are struggling to climb toward the light of a big bright star in the upper left corner. This bright light coming from what is presumably Harlem in the upper right-hand corner. This shows the viewer how Africans American had to go through to be recognized.
To conclude, you can observe the strong fascination with ancient Egypt by African-American. The Ascent of Ethiopia painting focuses on ancient Egypt symbolizes to emphasis Africa’s rich history. The painting used two ancient Egypt, symbols the faro and the pyramid. It also shows African-American can reach high places because they come back from a rich culture.