Raynors HCA 2017-06
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/1/2017
Painting on Panel, titled “Strange Fruit” and signed by “A. Smith.” Of course the title is from Billie Holiday’s 1939 melancholy song of the lynching’s of Black people in the South. A small sampling of the lyrics, “Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze; Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees...” The 15” x 30” folk art panel is in a larger period frame, shows a man hanging in the night, stars in the background, a moon sliver. His tongue his out, his arms wailing. This art was sold in 2006 auction (record included) and attributed the work to Albert Alexander Smith (1896-1940) who was born in NYC, served in WWI, but lived in Paris attracted by the freedom and lesser degree of racial prejudice he encountered there. Be it he or not, this a dramatic painting of a dark period of American history. In 2005, the US Senate introduced a resolution apologizing for not passing an anti lynching bill (voted down 200 times). Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu addressed the floor and referenced “Strange fruit.”
Click on a thumbnail above to display a larger image below
Hold down the mouse button and slide side to side to see more thumbnails(if available).
Click above for larger image.