Southern Folk Artist & Antiques Dealer/Collector: La Maison du Free Man of Color

Monday, June 23, 2014

La Maison du Free Man of Color

"La Maison du Free Man of Color" by Andrew LaMar Hopkins

One of my favorite paintings titled "La Maison du Free Man of Color" sold about a week ago at Nadine Blake's along with 6 others over a 48 hour period. "La Maison du Free Man of Color" is the first of my paintings I documented from beginning to end. Lot's of people want to know how I paint a painting from start to finish. I decided to start a facebook page to document my art and the steps in making it. Being self taught and not academically trained I have my own way of painting that is very different from formally trained artist. Instead of painting on a easel I paint with the canvas on my lap. Because of this I don't paint on stretched canvas, I love canvas board.

"La Maison du Free Man of Color" shows a well appointed late 18th century

Creole salon of a Creole gentleman of color. He is fashionably dressed in

the latest fashion from France including a powdered wig. His parents

portraits are over the Louisiana made French styled chest. A mother of African descent and a French

aristocrat father.

A portrait of the Creole gentleman of color as a child in a gilt

wood Louis XV frame hangs over the mantel. The Creole mantle and over mantel

are copied from Columbia Plantation 1782. 18th century Louisiana inventories

of interiors list locally made pieces of furniture Like the Creole

armoire, a Louisiana walnut pied-de-biche center table and the chest with

Cabriole Legs were mixed with fine imported furniture from France like the Louis

XVI gilded sofa and arm chair.

Other imported items in the room are

decorative arts like the blue and white delft vases on the mantel. The French cast

iron fireback in the fireplace. The Louis XV mantel clock, The Louis XVI

gilt wood mirror over the mantel. The French faïence pottery on the chest

and silver candlesticks would have been fancy items available in a port city

like New Orleans.

The term free people of color (French: gens de couleur

libres), at first specifically referred to persons of partial African and

European descent who were not enslaved. The term was especially used in the

French colonies, including La Louisiane and settlements on Caribbean

islands, such as Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe, and Martinique.

Free people of

color developed as a separate class between the colonial French and Spanish and

the enslaved black African workers. They often achieved education and some

measure of wealth; they spoke French and practiced Catholicism,

The first step. The drawing of La Maison du Free Man of Color before paint is applied.

Most of the decorative arts and furniture are picked out of my vast collection of photo's of antiques. While other items are latter added while the painting is still being painted.

Step 2, I try to cover the drawing all in paint. Note the Louisiana ladder back chairs are painted out from the drawing.

3, Some finer details are painted right away like the fabrics in the clothing while others just have base paint like the fabric on the chair to be latter touched up.

Now the portraits come alive in the painting. One of the number 1 things people love about my paintings are the portraits and paintings in my paintings.

4, Now stuff pops into the paintings that was not in the original drawing. Like the blue and white delft vases on the mantel. The Louis XV mantel clock, The French faïence pottery on the chest.