The French Collection, Faith Ringgold's quilt painting series of a fictional African-American artist and artists' model in 1920s Paris, presents a revisionist view of the early twentieth century School of Paris. It tells the story of Willia Marie Simone's (a fictional character created by Ringgold) experience as a black woman in her journey to become a successful artist in France. 

This fun 36 piece jigsaw puzzle depicts Ringgold's Dancing at the Louvre (The French Collection Part 1: #1), (1991), Willia is accompanied by her friend Marcia and her two young daughters. They dance joyously in front of Old Masterworks that epitomise Western femininity and motherhood.

About the artist

Artist, author, educator, and organiser, Faith Ringgold (b. 1930, New York, NY) is one of the most influential cultural figures of her generation, with a career linking the multi-disciplinary practices of the Harlem Renaissance to the political art of young Black artists working today.
For sixty years, Ringgold has drawn from both personal autobiography and collective histories to both document her life as an artist and mother and to amplify the struggles for social justice and equity. From creating some of the most indelible artworks of the civil rights era to challenging accepted hierarchies of art versus craft through her experimental story quilts, Faith Ringgold has produced a body of work that bears witness to the complexity of the American experience.

Artwork

Faith Ringgold, Dancing at the Louvre: The French Collection Part I, #1, 1991.
Acrylic on canvas, printed and tie-dyed pieced fabric, and ink, 73 1/2 × 80 1/2 in (186.7 × 204.5 cm)

© 2022 Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, courtesy ACA Galleries, New York. Gund Gallery at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio.

Gift of David Horvitz ’74 and Francie Bishop Good, 2017.5.6. Photo: Alan Geho