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“Melissa” by Marie Hull (American) - Oil on canvas / 1930 - Mississippi Museum of Art (Jackson) #WomenInArt #WomanArtist #AmericanArtist #art #ArtText #artwork #WomensArt #WomenArtists #MarieHull #MarieAtkinsonHull #1930s #MississippiMuseumofArt #AfricanAmericanArtist #BlackArt #AfricanAmericanArt
“Melissa” depicts a relaxed dignified dark-skinned middle-aged woman sitting in front of a table with red and white checkered tablecloth plus a dark earthenware pitcher. Her arms are folded across her lap and she is wearing a green jacket over an off-white blouse. Her black hair is neatly pulled back. The background is a muted, pinkish wall. In the upper right corner, a portion of a white and green patterned curtain is visible. The artist's use of shadow and light creates a sense of depth and texture in Melissa’s features and clothing. That African American artist is Marie Atkinson who made the discovery at 20, that she “wanted to paint more than anything else.” In 1890, she was born in Summit, Mississippi. No art classes were offered at her schools; however, she did earn a degree in music from Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi in 1909. A year later, artist Aileen Phillips moved to Jackson and Marie began taking art lessons. Phillips had studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia and was the only trained art teacher in Jackson. When Marie began art lessons from Phillips, her intentions to continue her music career flew out the window, for she knew that painting was her talent and her passion. She became a member of the fledgling art community in Jackson, specifically the newly formed Mississippi Art Association, which started in 1911. It was Marie, in 1912, who suggested the association begin a collection of paintings by establishing a prize in the state fair exhibit as a purchase award. The association’s collection later became the foundation of the Mississippi Museum of Art. In 1917, Marie married Emmett Johnston Hull, a Jackson architect. Hull was awarded her first gold medal from the Mississippi Art Association in 1920 and, in 1926, she received her first prize at the Southern States Art League. She won many prizes, culminating with Mississippi’s Katherine Bellaman Prize in 1965. Source: Mississippi History Now
July 5, 2025 at 4:34 AM