How is it that a New Orleans raised artist like myself has
never heard of Louisiana’s most ‘renowned’ folk painter? The answer is as
unfortunate as it is simple: Clementine Hunter, a mixed race Creole woman born
on Cloutierville’s Hidden Hill Plantation in 1887 , was destined to be
left out of the history books ("Clementine"
Contemporary). Her art, described by white collectors as
“charming” and primitive, depicts the daily tasks of a woman whose life was
centered on family, prayer, and fieldwork (McKittrick "Clementine"). Many white art critics describe her
paintings with an air of exoticism—an ignorance that can only be afforded to
those who see through a narrow lends. In truth, Clementine Hunter’s work is
bursting with vitality, symbolism, and a unique creative energy that marks it as culturally invaluable.
Clementine
Hunter, who was of French, Irish, Native American, and African heritage, began
her working life early, picking cotton in the fields starting at the age of
eight. For much of her life, she harvested crops and tended to the domestic
needs of the owners of Melrose Plantation (McKittrick "Clementine"). Melrose was unlike many other plantations in that it became a cultural hub for talents like Clementine's, fostering unique creative visions. The rural Louisiana hotspot drew John Steinbeck and William Faulkner, as well as a number of other prevalent individuals. Despite this apparent freedom, Clementine endured many of the same conditions
that her grandparents shouldered under the burden of slavery. On top of her
working duties, Clementine also tended to her own household. Her art
reflects the high value she placed on family, and by the end of her life she
was an established matriarch of several generations. She painted her first
painting at the age of 55, using paints left by a guest and a window shade
given to her as a canvas. Clementine was already known for her creative spirit,
skilled in sewing, quilting, lace-making, basket weaving, and cooking ("Clementine" St. James).
Proper painting materials were scarce, and Clementine often made use of what
was available to her. Many of her paintings were done on snuffboxes, milk jugs,
and an array of other objects, and her paint was regularly thinned with
turpentine. This material limitation reinforces Hunter’s realistic, culturally
informed subjects.
St. James Guide to Black Artists states
that Clementine Hunter “simply painted her world as she saw and felt it” ("Clementine" St. James).
Indeed, the subjects Clementine chose are indicative of the life she lived.
Common themes include work, religion, and traditional social gatherings.
Hunter’s body of work—consisting of around 5,000 paintings (McKittrick "Clementine")—illustrates what
rural Southern life was like for a black woman such as herself. St. James Guide to Black Artists considers
her art a rich “cultural and historical reminder of the past” ("Clementine" St. James). In fact,
some African Americans rejected Clementine’s paintings because it forced them
to recall of the harsh realities of working and living in the South. Many of
the people who exhibited interest in Clementine’s work were, in fact, of the
white bourgeois (McKittrick "Clementine"). Folk art such as Clementine’s is often valued in art
history communities for its ‘childlike simplicity’ and ‘rural charm’.
Clementine, however, never seemed disturbed by others’ opinions of her work. Sometimes stubborn and never compromising, Clementine always followed her own visions. For her, painting was a necessity; she would often paint compulsively, without
sleep, until a work was finished ("Clementine" St. James).
As with
Zora Neale Hurston and a variety of other creative women of color, white
sponsorship played a role in the encouragement of Clementine’s artistic life. Clementine
was first prompted to paint by Frank Mineah, a guest at Melrose Plantation
where she worked. Mineah doubled as trader and art critic ‘François Mignon’,
and he was responsible for giving Clementine the window shade on which she
painted her first painting. University of Oklahoma professor James Register was
also influential in Clementine’s work. At one point, he encouraged her to
pursue abstraction, the fashionable style of the time, but Clementine stayed
true to her own vision. Clementine's obstinate approach to painting is almost comical in its simplicity, and her desire to paint seemed to outweigh any vie for recognition or money. Mineah and Register were responsible for making
Hunter’s works known to Southern art collectors, but the money earned from her
pieces often didn’t reach her pocket. Clementine never kept a single one of her
works, and those left in her possession were gifted to friends or sold cheaply.
While her works were often sold in the art community for thousands of dollars,
Clementine was content with parting with them for as little as a mere quarter.
Money never held much value to Clementine, and she primarily lived off the earnings from her paintings and a Julius Rosenwald financial grant that James
Register helped her earn (McKittrick "Clementine").
Clementine earned various
recognitions throughout her life. She was the first African American given a
solo show at the New Orleans Museum of Art, then known as the Delgado Museum. She
was even invited by president Jimmy Carter to the White House, but she declined
to stay with her home and family. Admittedly a homebody, Clementine rarely saw reason to depart from her community, even amongst the fame and travel of her work (McKittrick "Clementine"). Her humble, compassionate nature
made her paintings as unique as they are inspirational. She lived until the age of
101, making art up until she passed away peacefully in January of 1988. Thankfully, Clementine lived to see her work
appreciated and embraced by the Southern community. Carolyn Harrington,
Louisiana State Museum art director, calls her work “a colorful stroke of life” (McKittrick "Clementine"). Clementine remained primarily illiterate for all of her life, and English was not her first language. This freed her of the constraints of academia and art history, and allowed her to paint her vision of the everyday working, colored community ("Clementine" St. James). She passed on her cultural influence to her children, grandchildren, and
great-grandchildren before her death. Her legacy remains today in a number of
books—both scholarly and illustrated—and a variety of exhibitions that continue
her unique vision.
