William Aiken Walker (American/South Carolina, 1838-1921) oil on board Southern genre scene, depicting a cabin with an African American family on the porch and road with chickens in the foreground. An orange tree is pictured to the right of the cabin, and clothes hang from a laundry line in the background. Later frame. Signed lower left “W. A. Walker”. Sight 5 7/8″ H x 11 3/4″ W, Framed 10 7/8″ H x 16 7/8″ W. Biography (courtesy Askart: The Artists’ Bluebook): the son of a prominent cotton agent, Charleston-born Walker exhibited his first painting at the South Carolina Institute Fair at the age of 12. He went to Dusseldorf to study art in 1860 but returned to American and served as a cartographer for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Walker is primarily known for his scenes of plantations, African -Americans, and dock scenes. Some were commissioned by wealthy patrons; others were turned out as souvenirs of the Old South for the tourist trade. Currier and Ives published several of his works as lithographs. From 1876-1905, Walker lived in New Orleans, where he and Everett B.D. Fabino Julio tried to establish an Art League. Their attempts, although initially unsuccessful, the project led to what would become the Southern Art Union. Provenance: acquired from the estate of Dr. George Compton of Tipton, Indiana in the early 1990s; by oral history, acquired by the Compton family directly from the artist in the early 20th century. Condition: Overall excellent condition. Condition: Overall excellent condition.