Lot 178: Maria Howard Weeden W/C Portrait of a Man

Maria Howard Weeden (Alabama, 1846-1905) watercolor on card portrait depicting the head and shoulders of an African American man, with watercolor caption below reading, "I jes' step for'ard an' say: Ole Billy." Unsigned. 8 3/4"H x 6 7/8"W. Note: this portrait, like the other Weeden portraits in this auction, is believed to be Weeden's own depiction of a character from the book "Meh Lady" by Thomas Nelson Page, published 1893, and illustrated in black and white by C.S. Reinhart. The book, a romance written in African American dialect from the point of view of a slave called "Uncle Billy" tells the story of a young Union soldier who is captured by Confederate forces and taken to "Meh Lady's" plantation as a prisoner of war. The young man and woman fall in love despite their political differences. The caption suggests this portrait depicts Billy, the narrator of the book, although like the depiction of "Hannah" in the next lot, the subject who posed for the painting was a person Maria Howard Weeden is known to have painted more than once and was likely a freed slave from her own community. Biographical note: Maria Howard Weeden was born in 1847 in Huntsville, Alabama, the youngest of six siblings. She showed artistic talent at an early age and was encouraged by her mother, who took her to study with William Frye, a well-known Southern portrait painter living in Huntsville at the time. She also studied art at the Huntsville Female Seminary. However, Weeden's family was financially ruined in the wake of the Civil War and she was unable to pursue more formal training or visit places such as Europe to find subject matter. As Martha Severens writes in "150 Years of Watercolor," "Her sitters were generally members of her community who were former slaves serving as cooks, nannies, and gardeners. At a time when many artists were caricaturing African Americans, Weeden preferred to render more dignified and uplifting portraits. After visiting the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, where she encountered many caustic images of the Uncle Remus variety, she resolved to pursue a different direction. She later recalled: ''Then and there I awoke to the realization that right around me was a subject of supremest artistic interest the old ex-slave, who henceforth became the theme for my muse and model for my brush.'' Some models, such as the one pictured here, were painted multiple times, sometimes in identical clothing and poses, for Weeden to sell at various venues. Most of her subjects never commissioned these portraits, and Weeden never found great commercial success. She published and illustrated several books, including "Bandanna Ballads" (1899), which was used in the production of the classic American movie "Gone With the Wind" as reference for the costumes of the slaves. She painted frequently in the Nashville area as a result of her friendship with Elizabeth Fraser Price, daughter of Dr. George Price, who founded the Nashville College for Young Ladies. Price exhibited and sold Weeden's work in her Nashville music studio, and Weeden also sold paintings at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition and at a reception held in her honor by the Nashville Art Club. One of her best known commissions was in Robertson County: in the 1890s, the Washington family of Wessyngton Plantation hired Weeden to paint portraits of several former slaves. Weeden's childhood home in Huntsville is now the Weeden House Museum and contains many of her works.

PROVENANCE: The estate of Kaye Bransford Ruty, Nashville; by descent in her family.

CONDITION: Discoloration from sun exposure and acidic framing materials. There is a 1/16" black paint splatter lower right and several tiny spots of foxing. The work was professionally removed from its glued-on matting but both sides retain remnants of previous adhesive around edges. The painting has not been deacidified.