Original Signed Oil Painting by Clementine Hunter and Book
Item Details
A charming painting in oil on canvas board is offered by the important Louisiana folk artist Clementine Hunter (1886-1988). It is signed by the artist as CH, although the C is turned backward which indicates the painting was done between 1960-1965. Hunter, an African-American woman, is considered one of the most important American folk artists, and her work can be found in collections including the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum of Folk Art in New York City, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the High Museum in Atlanta, and numerous private collections.
This painting depicts a busy day at the gin with one man taking cotton to the gin, another man picking cotton while a man off to the side is casually eating a watermelon. Another man is bringing cotton to the gin in a horse-drawn carriage while large green trees in the background are prominant and are similarly painted in her other paintings . The cotton is portrayed with a puckered light yellow texture and the gin is bright red, as color serves to ignite the activity of the scene. Included with the painting is a book titled Clementine Hunter by James L. Wilson. The book is filled with detailed information about all her works, conversations with Hunter and intimate details of her life and how she was inspired.
Clementine Hunter didn’t begin painting until later in life and was in her 50’s when she began to produce vibrant representations drawn from her memories of Southern plantation life. The painting is framed in a natural wood simple frame and is in very good condition. Hunter was born in December 1886 near Natchitoches, Louisiana, on Hidden Hill Plantation (later known as Little Eva Plantation). When she was young, her father moved the family away from the harsh environment of Hidden Hill (the plantation that was allegedly the basis for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin) to the more hospitable Melrose Plantation. She lived there most of her life, moving down the road only a few years before her death at 101 on January 1, 1988.
Dimensions
Visual image is 23.5 × 17.5.
Item #
15ATL013-160
