Paul Jones began buying pieces in the 1960s after noting that African American art was underrepresented in public galleries. In 2008, he donated about 1,700 pieces valued at $5 million to the University of Alabama, which established an art collection in his name.
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 about 1,700 pieces valued at $5 million in 2008.
Despite humble beginnings in Alabama and never being independently wealthy, Jones began buying pieces in the 1960s after noting that African American art was underrepresented in public galleries.
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.
