The Clementine Hunter Collection- Playing Cards

Hand painted ceramics courtesy of the Gitter Gallery

Louisana's most famous artist, Clementine Hunter, was born on a plantation in 1886. Clementine first worked in the cotton fields and pecan groves until Miss Cammie Henry, the owner of Melrose, brought her into the "Big House" to clean and cook. It was here that she came in contact with visiting writers and artists, including New Orleans artist Alberta Kinsley, whose work inspired Clementine to try painting.

Without formal training, she produced colorful memory paintings that captured everyday life on Melrose Plantation. Her paintings are recognized as a narrative telling the story of plantation life before mechanization came to agriculture. Her pictures of cotton pickings, washdays, pecan pickings, weddings, baptisms, and other scenes of life on Melrose have made her workds coveted around the world.

Clementine Hunter is considered one of the most important self-taught American artists of the 20th century. Her works can be seen in the Smithsonian Institution, The American Folk Art Museum, and countless other museums and private collections.

With every purchase made, a portion of the proceeds goes toward the preservation and interpretation of the Clementine Hunter House at Melrose Plantation, a National Historic Landmark.