Untitled (Zinnia Bouquet)

A self-taught artist, Clementine Hunter began pursuing her talent as a painter after the age of 50. She spent most of her life as a field hand and cook at Melrose Plantation, a cotton farm in Louisiana, which was also an artist colony in the 1930s, giving her access to paint and materials. Hunter painted narrative scenes of cotton picking, festive weddings, dancing, and church going, and became known for her bold paintings of flowers, particularly zinnias. The richly textured surface and vivid color of this zinnia bouquet are representative of Hunter’s overall style in the folk art tradition.