Self Taught Artist Appraisal

Clementine Hunter Painting of a Church Procession

This is an original oil or casein painting on board by the renowned self-taught folk artist Clementine Hunter (1886–1988). The composition features a characteristic scene of a rural congregation processing toward a white chapel with a black roof and green trim. A line of figures, mostly women in vibrant Sunday dresses—yellow, red, blue, orange, and white—with decorative wide-brimmed hats, follows a dirt path toward the entrance. Hunter’s signature 'CH' monogram is clearly visible in the lower right quadrant. The work exhibits her signature flat perspective and simplified, expressive forms. The palette is dominated by earthy browns, vibrant greens for the stylized trees, and various bright hues for the figures, set against a muted pinkish-beige ground and a streaked sky of blue, grey, and white. The painting is housed in a simple dark wood frame which appears to be in sound condition. There are minor visible surface irregularities consistent with the artist's choice of humble materials and thick paint application (impasto). The overall condition appears excellent for a mid-20th-century folk art piece, with no significant flaking or loss visible from the image. This piece possesses all the hallmark qualities of Hunter’s documentation of life at Melrose Plantation.