Funeral 1950

Clementine Hunter made this painting, Funeral, and I love how she used simple strokes and a limited palette to capture a whole world. The pink sky, almost dreamlike, hangs over a scene filled with figures bearing flowers. It’s like a memory, maybe, where the emotional tone trumps photographic accuracy. The paint is applied flatly, directly, with little blending or fuss. Look closely, and you’ll see how each figure is defined by bold outlines and blocks of color, but it’s the gestures, those simple acts of carrying flowers, that convey the deepest meaning. The bouquets themselves are bursts of white, contrasting against the darker clothes of the mourners. It reminds me a bit of Milton Avery, or maybe even a folk version of Matisse—that same commitment to color and form, stripped down to its essence. Hunter shows us that art doesn’t need to be complicated to be profound. It just needs to be true.