Untitled

The self-taught folk artist, Clementine Hunter, named her self-portrait as Untitled. With oil paint and collage, Hunt creates a scene delineating a girl in blue dress handing a bouquet to a photo of the artist with her name underneath, perhaps as a confident celebration of her successful career as an artist.  

As one of the most important African American folk artist, Hunter's life is an inspiring story. She was born in the Hidden Hill Plantation in Louisiana, where her parents worked. At the age of 15, Hunter moved to Melrose Plantation and started to work a cotton picking job. Melrose plantation was where her career as an artist started. In 1939, an artist who visited the plantation left some brushes and paints, Hunter used these to paint her first picture. Her paintings are colorful and vibrant, vividly documented the life in plantation. Soon, with patrons of plantation's support, Hunter's artworks were exhibited and became known by a lot of people. 

Hunter's talent was recognized by the wider public when she became the first African-American artist to hold a solo exhibition at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Though never received education in reading and writing and lived in poverty most of her life, Hunter's paintings are bright and lively, showing her love and attachment toward her community.