This July 4th, we’re wishing everyone a relaxing day spent celebrating with family and friends.⠀ ⠀ A centennial after the United States announced its independence from Great Britain, the artist Clementine Hunter was born. Hunter worked for most of her life on the Melrose Plantation in Louisiana, one of the largest plantations in the United States built by and for free Blacks.⠀ ⠀ The artist is known for depicting everyday moments in and around the plantation—like the above scene in “Untitled (Man Drinking)”—and illustrating the beauty, complexities, and traditions of independent Black life in the American South during the twentieth century.⠀ ⠀ __⠀ ⠀ Clementine Hunter (1886/1887–1988) "Untitled (Man Drinking)", c. 1940–45. Oil on paper, 13 5/8 × 12 in. The Studio Museum in Harlem; gift of Maurice C. and Patricia L. Thompson, Jr., CT 1995.4.1 © Cane River Arts Corporation