HELEN LA FRANCE (American, b. 1919)
rural Southern Sunday church picnic
sgn. l.r. Helen La France, o/c, 28 by 46 in., unframed
LaFrance is a self-taught African American artist born in Graves County, Kentucky. Encouraged from childhood, she always followed her mother's wisdom to "paint what you know." She attended school to the fifth grade, but later left to work on the farm.
In her 40s, she made enough money to buy art supplies, and in 1986 she began painting full-time. Best known for her 'memory' painting of the disappearing lifestyle of the rural South, her work is represented in many notable public and private collections here and abroad, including Oprah Winfrey, Bryant Gumbel and contemporary artist Red Grooms. Her life and her work were documented in the award-winning screenplay by Marilyn Jaye Lewis, 'Tell My Bones: The Helen LaFrance Story.'
Presently she resides in a Kentucky nursing home and says of her days, "When I'm not eating or sleeping, I'm painting."
Two small tears bottom right, one 3/4" by 1/4" the other smaller. See photo.
Estimate: $1,500 - $2,000
Realized: $6,000 - Excluding Buyer's Premium
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Lot 57 : HELEN LA FRANCE (American, b. 1919)
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