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Paul R. Jones

Paul R. Jones differed from the typical collector of world-class art in too many ways to enumerate. For one thing, he is not independently wealthy nor did he inherit a fortune - no, this son of a miner grew up in a work camp, and for most of his life, his "day job" has been public service. But he has brought to his collection - and therefore, to us - a personal passion, curiosity and creativity unsurpassed by the likes of Guggenheim or Getty.

The "dean of African American collectors," Jones avoided trend buying and operated outside the more traditional acquisition modes. He occasionally purchased work he "did not understand by artists he did not know" because, in his words, "something in it drew me in...and I trusted it to take me somewhere..." Buying from (at the time) relative unknowns, his purchase often paid the month's rent or put food on the table.

Published: Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 10:58 a.m.
( page of 2 )ATLANTA (AP) — Paul R. Jones, a collector of African-American art who donated troves of works to universities in Delaware and Alabama, has died. He was 81.

Jones died in Atlanta on Tuesday after a brief illness, said University of Alabama spokeswoman Angie Estes. The university established an art collection in Jones' name after receiving some 1,700 pieces valued at $5 million in 2008.

Despite humble beginnings in Alabama and never independently wealthy, Jones began buying pieces in the 1960s after noting African-American art was underrepresented in public galleries.

As the drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures and other works grew into the hundreds; part of his collection was exhibited at the University of Delaware in 1993. He later made a gift of several hundred works to the school.

"My goal has been to incorporate African-American art into American art," he told The Tuscaloosa News in 2008 when he made his donation to the University of Alabama with a plan for it to be part of the curriculum.

He embraced the school even though he was turned down by the University of Alabama Law School in 1949 after it discovered he was black.

Born in Bessemer, in the central part of the state, he was raised in the Muscoda Mining Camp of an iron and steel corporation. Jones attended historically black Alabama State University in Montgomery and finished his education at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Described as a civil rights activist, he worked with an interracial community group in Birmingham, and held jobs with the federal government for 15 years before becoming deputy director of the Peace Corps based in Thailand.

When his collection grew into the hundreds, he decided it should be used for educational purposes.

"I knew I could sell the collection at its appreciated price, and get myself a chauffeur, a cook, a maid, and travel the world," he was quoted on a University of Delaware Web site devoted to his collection. "But, I realized I wanted to do something with my collection that would have a lasting impact, both in my lifetime and beyond."

Survivors include his son, P.R. Jones of California, according to the University of Alabama.

A funeral service will be held at Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta at a date to be determined.

 

 

• AT LARGE: Black art collector holds no grudges against Capstone
• Black art collection aims to educate
• Collector donates $4.8 million in African-American art to UA

 

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