Clementine Hunter

Playing Cards, 1971
Oil Paint
29.50 x 22 in
$10,240
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While self-taught artist Clementine Hunter has been a big regional artist for a very long time, she's a national figure now and her work is being added to many museum collections. Institutions and prominent collectors have moved in hard. 

 

The first thing to ask about any Clementine Hunter is: is it authentic. Yes, there are fakes, and even paintings by her son that are mistaken for (or presented as) hers. This one has been authenticated by "the" Clementine expert, Tom Whitehead, who has a close association with our source for this painting. With the painting, you will receive a hardcover copy of his co-written book about Clementine and her work (see photo). Of course it has our own guarantee of authenticity as well; we have sold many Clementines. 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! 

 

Hunter painted what she saw going on around her at Melrose Plantation. Though others exist, this is the first that has become available to us of folks playing cards, just a wonderful scene of daily life of workers at Melrose, where Clementine spent in her own words a very happy life. The painting is oil on board. It is in typical condition for her paintings, with evidence of a bit of in-painting, but visually quite clean. If you take the frame off, you can see some corner and edge-wear, which is also typical - but presumably you will not be displaying this without a frame (this is likely the painting's original frame; it has some scratches and dings on it; collectors tend to show their Clementines in the original frames.) Again, with the purchase of this painting, you will receive a hardcover copy of the definitive book about Clementine Hunter, co-authored by none other than the expert who authenticated this painting, Tom Whitehead. 

 

The painting itself measures 16" x 24"; with the frame, it is 29.5" x 22".



Clementine Hunter

LIFE
Clementine Hunter was born into a Creole family of former slaves, on a plantation in Louisiana. After only a few days of school, she left, preferring her work in the fields. She married Charlie Dupree and had two children. After Dupree’s death, she met and married Emmanuel Hunter, who taught her English and with whom she had five more children.
Hunter already had grandchildren when she discovered her passion for art. She was living at Melrose Plantation, whose mistress had transformed the property into a haven for artists. Hunter transferred from the fields to work as a cook and housekeeper. Legend has it that one day she found a few discarded tubes of paint and a window shade, and painted a baptism scene. After that, she was hooked. After her day’s work, she would quilt or paint, capturing the scenes of daily life around her. 
Hunter painted thousands of pieces during her lifetime, with whatever materials were to hand. The artists at the plantation soon recognised her and began giving her supplies, promoting her work and selling it for a few cents or a dollar. The New Orleans Museum of Art showed her work in the first solo exhibition given a Black artist — though Hunter couldn’t attend her own show until after hours. In the 70s, the Museum of American Folk Art in New York and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibited her paintings. Hunter carried on her simple life and artwork until the age of 101.
 

ART
Hunter’s work disregards proportion and perspective to present simple, expressive scenes of plantation life — cotton picking, weddings, funerals. Illiterate, she wanted to tell her memories and stories through her pictures for the generations to come. “I’m glad the young people of today can look at my paintings,” she said, “and see how easy and uncomplicated things were when we lived off the land. I wanted to tell them. I paint the history of my people.”
 

RECOGNITION
During Hunter’s life, she remained poor and unaffected by her fame. When President Jimmy Carter invited her to the White House, she turned him down because she didn’t like to travel outside of Louisiana.
Now, her paintings are prized and skyrocketing in price, and she is acclaimed as an original spirit and a communicator of her culture and times to ours.
 

Sources:
AskArt
Google Arts and Culture
Smithsonian Magazine
NMWA.org