<I>Baptizing with Lady in Orange Dress</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1960s
name: label: Attributed to
content: Clementine Hunter, American, ca. 1886 - 1988
label: Subject of
content: Melrose Plantation, American, founded 1832
notes: label: Caption
content: Hunter had no formal art training and only began painting in her fifties. She spent most of her life on the Melrose Plantation in Louisiana, picking cotton and collecting pecans. Later she worked inside, cleaning houses and washing clothes. Once she did begin painting, she was quite prolific. It is believed that she produced several thousand works
label: Description
content: An oil painting depicting a scene of pastoral life in Louisiana. A white church with green-trimmed doors and windows is featured prominently in the center of the canvas. The area behind the church is interspersed with trees, and the sky behind the church and trees is a variegation of blue, white and rose colors in broad, horizontal brushstrokes. A procession of figures walk along a prominent diagonal line leading from the church steps to the lower left-hand corner of the painting. At the head of the procession are two figures in black robes, wearing black head coverings and white collars. Behind them are five smaller figures dressed in white dresses and veils. Under the church and the procession of figures is a broad line of brown paint, separating this scene from another scene in the lower right-hand corner. In the lower scene, a woman is featured prominently at lower-center, wearing a vivid orange dress and a black hat with flowers. She is kneeling, hands clasped, next to a body of water. Two figures in black robes and head coverings and white collars are shown waist-deep in the water, holding between them a person wearing a white dress and veil. The painting is signed "CH" (but with the "C" reversed) at the bottom right, above the figures in the water.
place: label: Place depicted
content: Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Christianity
label: Topic
content: Religion
label: Topic
content: Rural life
label: Topic
content: The Black Church
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Visual Arts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Rand and Dana Jack family, in honor of Rand's grandmother, Blythe Rand, who early recognized and supported the special talents of Clementine Hunter
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.176.5
objectType: label: Type
content: oil paintings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Cane River Art Corporation
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: oil paint on fiberboard
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (painting): 16 × 24 × 1/4 in. (40.6 × 61 × 0.6 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (framed): 22 × 33 1/2 in. (55.9 × 85.1 cm)