Clementine Hunter: Memory Artist of Black Southern Life

Clementine Hunter (late 1880s–1988) was a self-taught artist who spent most of her life on Melrose Plantation in Louisiana's Cane River region. Born into a family of cotton pickers, she never learned to read or write. In the 1930s, she began painting with discarded paints given by visiting artist Alberta Kinsey. Hunter painted from memory on found materials like window shades and cardboard, depicting cotton picking, baptisms, funerals, and domestic life. Her flattened, rhythmic compositions echo quilt-making. She sold works for less than a dollar, signing with a backwards 'C' and 'H'. In 1955, she became the first African American artist to have a solo show at the Delgado Museum (now New Orleans Museum of Art). Her works are in the Smithsonian, National Gallery of Art, and featured in the 2022 exhibition Afro-Atlantic Histories. Louisiana declared October 1 as Clementine Hunter Day in 2019.