One of the more well-known displays of Hunter’s artwork is located in a food storage building called “African House” on the grounds of Melrose Plantation. She sold many of her first works for a dime or quarter to pay for her husband’s medical treatment. She thinned her oil paint so much it resembled watercolor. From that time, she was prolific, and created over four-thousand scenes of plantation life on whatever materials were available from scrap wood to paper bags. He encouraged her to do abstract art, which she did while letting him choose the titles.īut she preferred the folk art style. Another supporter at that time was James Register, also an artist-in- residence, and he obtained a Julius Rosenwald Foundation Grant for her. In 1946, under his direction, she did her first work, a plantation baptism scene, from a few partially used tubes of oil paint on a window shade that he provided. Henry, Hunter met many people in the art world and was especially influenced and promoted by Francois Mignon, who was an artist-in-residence at the plantation. It was at Melrose that Hunter first began her production of hand made quilts, dolls, and lace curtains. She opened her home to artists and authors who needed a quiet place to work. Henry, was an archivist and artist who actively encouraged the arts. Becoming associated with the plantation mistress, Ms. Ten years later she married Emanuel Hunter, and moved into the plantation house where she was in charge of the domestic work. Her first male companion and father of two of her children was Charlie Dupree, who died in 1914. At age sixteen, she moved to nearby Melrose Plantation, where she worked for many years as a field hand. She attended a local Catholic school, but quit at a young age and never learned to read or write. She was born at Hidden Hill Plantation near Natchitoches, Louisiana, and lived there the remainder of her life of one-hundred-one years, raising seven children and working in the fields. She also did mural painting, and a number of her works had Christian religious subjects. Her subjects included everyday activities such as doing laundry and festive events including weddings, dances, and church going. Often referred to as “the black Grandma Moses,” Clementine Hunter painted four to five thousand paintings, which were boldly colored images in folk art style of plantation life in Louisiana. So if you order it in the near future there might be a slight delay before it arrives to you. PLEASE NOTE that while I now own this painting, it is not yet in my possession as of the writing of this description, while arrangements are made to get it to me. Proudly presented by Guy Lyman Fine Art, New Orleans, with our firm guarantee of satisfaction. The painting is 16" x 24", slightly larger with frame. You can read biographical information about her below. Clementine Hunter would have attended many dozens of wakes in her long time on earth living at the Melrose Plantation, and you can be sure this experience was one of the central ones of her life and a superb example of her more important work. There is weeping, and there are memories shared. Friends and relatives stop by to view the body, often surrounded by flowers, photographs and elaborate decorations of many kinds. It's a social rite that highlights the idea that the loss is one of a social group and affects that group as a whole. A wake occurs before the funeral of one who has died. Wakes are a fixture of southern Black culture. You can find fakes at auction houses (many of them outside of the New Orleans area) and other venues that don't ask questions, for a lot less money, but don't be fooled! Of course it has my own guarantee as well I have sold many Clementines. Charles Gallery I knew the owner, who died maybe 5 years ago. This one was in the collection of a New Orleans local (Gillis W. Yes, there are fakes, and paintings by her son that are mistaken for (or presented as) hers. At any rate, the first thing to ask about any Clementine is: is it authentic. Institutions and prominent collectors have moved in hard. Black artists have been in the spotlight lately, and while Clementine Hunter has been a big regional artist for a very long time, she's a national figure now and being added to many museum collections. If you have been watching the prices of Clementine Hunter's work over the past two years, you will know that they have often soared to astronomical heights - particularly for the more colorful and interesting ones such as this.
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