MONA LISA

This captivating version of the famous Mona Lisa portrait is a collaboration between self-taught artists Elijah Pierce and Leroy Almon. Although born in Tallapoosa, Georgia, Almon spent most of his childhood and life in Columbus, Ohio, where he met and befriended Elijah Pierce at the Gay Tabernacle Baptist Church. Pierce, who was born on a cotton plantation in Baldwyn, Mississippi, moved to Columbus in 1923, where he opened his own barbershop. From a young age, carving and barbering were deeply important to Elijah Pierce and his barbershop became not only a gathering place for his community, but also where he worked on and displayed the colorful painted carvings he created in his spare time. In 1979, Almon became apprentice to the established and respected woodcarver Pierce. For a very brief period of time, the two artists collaborated on pieces, including Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa is a bold rendition and serves as a wonderful record of Pierce as teacher and Almon as student. Pierce took pride in his work and ownership of his success, noting, “Your life is a book and every day is a page, you’re writing your fate as you go along.” For Pierce, wood was his page and a pocket knife his quill, tools through which he left an enduring legacy. The sentiment influenced his teaching style and he heavily supervised Almon, likely providing a strong direction on the present work. Based on the subtle differences in the carving, it is thought that Almon carved and painted Mona Lisa and Pierce worked on the background and frame. Two years after creating this work together, Almon left Columbus in 1982, armed with his own artistic practice and style, but also with the strong foundations imparted from Pierce. According to tradition, Almon was so fond of Mona Lisa that Pierce gifted it to him when he moved back to Tallapoosa, where it hung in his dining room for many years.