William Aiken Walker
(American/South Carolina, 1839-1921)

"Black Man with Cane, Standing in a Cotton Field"

oil on canvasboard
signed lower right, and labels from "Didier's" and Louisiana State Museum en verso.
Period frame with artist plaque.
13-1/4" x 8-1/2", framed 19-1/2" x 13-1/2"

Provenance: Purchased from Didier's, 18th and 19th Century American, Rue Royal St., New Orleans, September 1972; Private collection, Opelousas, Louisiana; Private collection, New Orleans.

Exhibited: "The World of William Aiken Walker", Louisiana State Museum, Dec. 1972.

Literature: Illustrated in Exhibition of Southern Genre Paintings by William Aiken Walker, booklet, April 1972, Didier's, Rue Royal, New Orleans.

Notes: The Magazine Antiques described James Donald Didier, as "one of the most idiosyncratic, engaging, and gifted minds in the world of American antiques and preservation." After studying at LSU, he opened Didier's 18th and 19th Century American gallery on 830 Royal Street in the French Quarter. Don was an early aficionado and dealer of Louisiana fine art, antiques, and decorative objects. He was a member of the River Road Historic Society where he consulted on the restoration of many historic homes and plantations.

Toning of the varnish layer. Small areas of inpainting upper center and upper mid left and right (sky); surface abrasions along right edge and lower right corner. Frame with surface marks, nicks and abrasions, and some separations in corners.