Images(2)

Baptism

Date1950-1956

Artist Clementine Hunter (1885-1988)

OriginAmerica, Louisiana, Natchitoches

MediumPossibly oil paint on thick, laminated cardboard

DimensionsUnframed: 11 3/4 x 17 15/16in. and Framed: 15 1/4 x 21 1/4 x 1 1/8in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1992.101.2

DescriptionA depiction of a baptism. In the right distance is a white, steep-roofed church and, to the left of this, two women are kneeling and a man is bowing. In the left foreground, six figures robed in white (baptismal candidates) are being led by two men dressed in black (clergymen). At far right in the foreground, two men prepare to submerge a white-dressed figure in water. Trees of various sizes dot the landscape of a pink ground, dark green grass, and a blue sky streaked with yellow and the suggestions of clouds.
Label TextClementine Hunter worked as a field hand at Hidden Hill plantation near Cloutierville, Louisiana, and as a cook at Melrose plantation in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. She drew upon these experiences when she began to create pictures, using discarded tubes of paint left behind by a guest of Cammie Henry, Melrose's owner.
InscribedAt far right, near vertical center, are the initials "CH" in black paint. On the reverse in pencil is "I Purchased This Painting/ from Clementine Hunter/ in the Bedroom of her/ House near 'Melrose,'/ outside Natchitoches, LA/in August, 1956, in/ company with Marion/ Putts (?) Clayton who/ was born in Natchitoches./Howard Clayton".