Paul R. Jones, who built one of the largest collections of 20th century African-American art, has died in Atlanta. He was 81. University of Alabama spokeswoman Angie Estes says Jones died Tuesday after a brief illness. The Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art is at the university. The school received 1,700 paintings and photographs valued at $5 million in 2008. Jones began collecting art in the 1960s and was soon drawn to African-American pieces after noticing the art was vastly underrepresented in public galleries. He also donated some 900 works to the University of Delaware. Besides being an art collector, Jones was a civil rights activist. He was a native of Alabama and had lived in Atlanta, Georgia, for several decades. 