Bidspirit auction | Clementine Hunter, American/Louisiana, 1886/87-1988, Picking

Clementine Hunter, American/Louisiana, 1886/87-1988, Picking Cotton, 1981 - Oil on board, signed, depicting workers gathering cotton in a plantation landscape with figures, birds, cabins, trees, and waterways, rendered in Hunter's characteristic bold folk-art style. Housed in a simple molded wood frame. Paper label verso identifies the artist as Clementine Hunter, title ”Picking Cotton, ” medium as oil on board, date 1981, and states signed. Accompanied by original 1981 purchase receipt from Gasperi Folk Art Gallery, 831 St. Peter Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, dated May 21, 1981, identifying the work as C. Hunter, Picking Cotton (1981). Richard Gasperi and Gasperi Folk Art Gallery are well documented in the Clementine Hunter and Southern self-taught art field; the Smithsonian Archives of American Art records Gasperi's assistance with a 1985 Clementine Hunter documentary, and the American Folk Art Museum archives note that the Richard Gasperi Papers include extensive research files on Clementine Hunter. Painting has remained in the same private collection since its 1981 purchase. Canvas: 18 in H, 24 in. W; Frame: 19 in. H, 25 in. W. Condition: Overall good estate condition, with minor surface wear and age-appropriate frame wear.