Did you know that the first artwork Robert Wilson purchased was by folk artist Clementine Hunter?
Hunter, the granddaughter of a slave, worked on the Melrose Plantation in Louisiana for most of her life. Though she always had creative inclinations, evidenced by the beautiful quilts and doll clothes she made, she was self-taught and did not begin painting until she turned 54. She picked up the tubes of paint and paintbrushes left behind by an artist visiting the Melrose Plantation, to “mark a picture” on a window shade. In fact, Hunter did not often have access to canvas, and so would paint on old window curtains, bottles, cardboard, and brown paper bags. In the next 48 years til her death, she produced an estimated 4,000 paintings. Outside her undecorated home, she had placed a sign that said “Clementine Hunter, Artist. 25 cents to Look.”
View the auction offerings from Robert Wilson’s collection here.
Images courtesy of Cane River Art Corporation, Ogden Museum in New Orleans, and the artist.